


Sound of Madness

by martianwahtney



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: "Platonic" Bed Sharing, Bucky and Tony have a talk (tm) and it's all fine, Extremis Pepper Potts, I HAVE A REASON FOR THIS BUCKY VS WANDA THING AND EXPLANATIONS I PROMISE, M/M, Natasha and Tony are best friends leave me alone, Not Wanda friendly at first, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Pre-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Sharing a Bed, Strange saw a confrontation about to happen and noped the fuck outta there, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony loves Dum-E so much leave me alone, Tony misses jarvis, Tony's actually pretty fuckin pissed my dude, Tony/Rhodey is the otp we all deserve, U THOUGHT I WOULD MAKE A FIC W/O MY FIRST BORN SON HARLEY KEENER U WERE WRONG, Wanda will eventually get called out for everything she did to the team in AOU, also I brought Clint back bc I love him, am I hinting at pep/nat u bet ur ass I am, anway here's Harley Keener aka my son, chapter 11 is super anti Wanda, chpt 9 is super like not steve friendly I'm sorry but not really, dubious press conference questions, eventually this is going to be Tony/Rhodey, listen Natasha Romanoff loves Anthony Edward Stark so much you can't take this away from me, not exactly Steve-friendly at first, pining!Rhodey, probably will get more Steve friendly, rhodes still does desk work kinda for the military, strange noping out of a confrontation is my favorite part about my own writing, that being said welcome to Bucky's first lines in this whole damn fic, there is ur warning, yes Rhodes is still pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-16
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-01-18 10:13:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 17,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12386103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/martianwahtney/pseuds/martianwahtney
Summary: After the fight in Siberia, Steve takes Bucky and vanishes, leaving Tony to pick up the pieces. Tony does everything in his power to bring the Rogues home, and still, somehow, things go to shit.





	1. Chapter 1

Sam was lying on his bunk, staring up at the plain, white ceiling of his cell. He was tired of the Raft. He didn’t know how long it had been since he had told Tony where Steve and Bucky were going.  
  
“Sam!”  
  
The voice hissed through the darkness. Sam slowly got out of his bunk and headed for the barred wall.  
  
“Sam!”  
  
It was Clint calling for him.  
  
“What?” Sam hissed back.  
  
“Look,”  
  
It was pitch black. Whatever it was that Clint saw, Sam couldn’t.  
  
“There’s nothing,”  
  
“Exactly!”  
  
Sam looked out into the darkness again. His eyes instinctively glancing to the camera’s with their blinking red lights- except, there were no blinking red lights.  
  
“The cameras,” he said quietly.  
  
“Someone’s disabled them,”  
  
As if on cue, the lights flicked on. Sam winced and rubbed his eyes.  
  
“Stark,” Scott snapped.  
  
Tony Stark stood in the middle of the room looking worse for wear. His arm was still in a sling, and there were a few new bruises on his face. Sam pressed a little closer to the bars. What happened in Siberia?  
  
“Here to gloat?” Clint asked.  
  
“I have an AI dismantling the Raft as we speak. Any and all information stored here is being sent directly to the UN. General Thaddeus Ross has been detained and is awaiting trial,”  
  
There was a long moment of silence.  
  
“What?” Clint asked.  
  
Tony turned to his former teammate. Sam noticed that he was moving slowly, like he was more hurt than he was letting on.  
  
“This… place wasn’t in the Accords. I never would have endorsed it if it was,” Tony said.  
  
“Where’s Steve?” Sam asked.  
  
Tony looked at Sam. His eyes were haunted.  
  
“Tony… what happened in Siberia?” he pleaded.  
  
“Steve and Bucky are taking refuge in Wakanda, courtesy of King T’challa,” Tony said at last.  
  
“What?” Scott demanded.  
  
“He _left_ us?”  
  
There were a couple of loud clicks and one by one the barred doors of the cells were opened.  
  
“Thanks to good ol’ Thaddeus doing this to you guys, I was able to guilt the UN into approve full pardons for all of you. So you can go home or stay at the Compound,” Tony said.  
  
Clint rushed out of his cell to get Wanda out of her restraints. Sam kept his gaze on Tony. He flinched when the collar hit the floor.  
  
“Stark,” Wanda said, her voice pitched low with fury.  
  
“Stop,” Sam said tiredly.  
  
Clint turned his head to whisper something to her. Tony turned and started to walk away. Sam was the first to follow. Tony’s movements were slow and unsure, he kept gripping on to the railing. Sam turned back to look at Clint, the archer was watching Tony with narrowed eyes. Sam didn’t know if that meant Clint was concerned with Tony’s behavior or was still pissed at him.  
  
“Mr. Stark,”  
  
Vision floated over to them, not paying attention to anyone but Tony.  
  
“You should not be on your feet so long,”  
  
“I’m fine Viz. I’ll sit the whole time on the Quinjet, scouts honor,”  
  
Vision didn’t look amused.  
  
“You were not a boy scout,” Vision stated, clearly unamused with Tony’s antics.  
  
It was a long and awkwardly quiet Quinjet ride home. Clint and Sam sat next to each other. Wanda was looking from Vision to her hands. Scott was staring blankly at the wall in front of him.  
  
Vision suddenly stood and walked over to them.  
  
“Mr. Stark would like you to have these,”  
  
He handed out phones. They were sleek and black and beautiful. Sam always thought StarkTech was beautiful. Sam unlocked his phone and flicked through it.  
  
“You didn’t put Steve’s number in,” Clint commented.  
  
“He fucked off to Wakanda with his other half,” Tony stated dryly.  
  
“Why would he leave us in the Raft?” Clint shot back.  
  
Tony scoffed and then winced, his hand shooting up to his chest. Vision looked worried.  
  
“Apparently Barnes is the only thing Rogers cares about,”  
  
“Bullshit!” Clint hissed.  
  
“What happened in Siberia?” Sam demanded.  
  
At this Tony stood. For a moment it looked like Vision was going to help him, but a glare from Tony made him stop.  
  
“You want to know what Rogers did? He lied to and betrayed me! For two years he knew what Barnes did! _Lied_ to me! For two years! God the fucking hypocrite,”  
  
“Steve wouldn’t do that,” Clint said.  
  
“FRIDAY, send them Roger’s number,” Tony said tiredly.  
  
Vision helped Tony sit down.  
  
“Even with Dr. Cho’s help, you should be resting,” Vision said softly.  
  
“I’m fine, Viz,” Tony assured.  
  
The Quinjet landed at the Compound and they all trudged out. Tony was last, assisted by Vision.  
  
“If Colonel Rhodes finds out you’re over-exerting yourself, he will come back here,” Vision warned.  
  
Tony pouted and continued to allow Vision to help him.  
  
“ _Wise choice, Boss_ ,” FRIDAY chimed.  
  
Tony grumbled.  
  
“ _You have an appointment with Dr. Cho as well, Boss_ ,” FRIDAY added.  
  
“Again?”  
  
Sam watched him and Vision walk away.  
  
“What do we do now?” Wanda asked.  
  
“That’s an excellent question, Ms. Maximoff,”  
  
They all turned to see a woman with short blonde hair. She didn’t look pleased to see them.  
  
“You have choice to sign the Accords, or leave,” she told them.  
  
“Who are you?”  
  
“Carol Danvers. Along with Colonel Rhodes, I’m co-leading the Avengers,” she said.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony has a talk with Rhodes, Sam, and Natasha. Not all at the same time. Dum-E makes an appearance

“So how’d it go?”  
  
Tony looked up at the video feed of Rhodey. Tony was sitting on the floor of his lab, Dum-E was hovering near him, still too worried about Tony to leave him alone for too long.  
  
“They kept asking about Rogers,” Tony said.  
  
“Tones,” he said quietly.  
  
“I’m… I can’t tell them what happened. Siberia was my fault,”  
  
“Tones,” Rhodey said again.  
  
“What happened in Siberia-”  
  
“How’s PT coming along?” Tony interrupted.  
  
Rhodey sighed softly and rubbed his hand over his forehead.  
  
“I’m making progress,”  
  
Tony grinned up at him.  
  
“I miss you, gumdrop,” he said.  
  
Rhodes smiled at him. It was a lot like sunshine to Tony.  
  
“Miss you too, Tones,”  
  
Tony smiled. From somewhere behind him, Dum-E made a few beeps.  
  
“Dum-E still following you?” Rhodey asked.  
  
“Like the lost puppy he is,” Tony said.  
  
“He’s worried about you. He’s not the only one,”  
  
Tony huffed out a small laugh and rubbed the back of his neck, wincing ever so slightly at the pain in his chest.  
  
“I’m fine,” Tony said.  
  
“I’m fine,” he said again.  
  
“Tones-”  
  
“I think I should hit the hay. Night platypus, I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Love you,”  
  
Rhodes didn’t look pleased, but he didn’t protest.  
  
“Night Tones. Love you too,”  
  
The video feed cut out and Tony was left sitting on the floor of his lab. Dum-E rolled toward him and nudged him gently, making chirps on inquiry.  
  
“I know, I know,”  
  
Dum-E helped his creator to his feet. Tony fondly patted his bots arm.  
  
“Get some rest, Dum-E,”  
  
The bot chirped and rolled off. Tony shuffled out of his lab. Ever since Siberia he’d been sleeping more, which was probably due to the fact that he was still in recovery. His chest still hurt. One would think, that after _years_ of having an arc reactor in his chest, that he would be used to chest pains. Once again, Steve fucking Rogers proved him wrong.  
  
He finally made it to his bedroom and crashed. FRIDAY woke him the following morning, as she always did. He had his two cups of coffee, ate some toast, took his pills, and headed down to the lab until FRIDAY bullied him out to go have lunch.  
  
“Uh- hey,”  
  
Tony and Sam looked at each other for a moment. From what little Sam knew about Tony, he hadn’t expected to see the resident genius very much, let alone in the kitchen.  
  
“Hey,”  
  
“FRIDAY bullied me up here for lunch,” Tony blurted out, because he had to say something. He hated weird silence. Besides, it’s not like he hated Sam.  
  
“Right,” Sam said.  
  
Tony jerkily went through the motions of making himself a sandwich and pouring himself a cup of water. (FRIDAY had somehow programmed to coffee maker to refuse to make him coffee during lunch- traitor).  
  
Tony turned around, plate and cup in hand, intent on enjoying his lunch- Sam was still there. He hadn’t left yet. W-Was Tony supposed to join him?  
  
“Yea, man, it’s the communal kitchen,” Sam said, sounding confused.  
  
Ah fuck he’d said that out loud.  
  
“Ok,”  
  
Tony sat across the table from Sam and started to eat his sandwich and pointedly did not look at the other man.  
  
“How’s Rhodes?” Sam asked quietly.  
  
“He’s fine,”  
  
Sam stared at him, clearly expecting more of an answer.  
  
“He’s doing his PT down in DC at a facility,” Tony explained.  
  
When Sam didn’t immediately respond to that, Tony just kept talking. He talked about the facility, how it was state of the art, how he had given donations to hundreds and hundreds of other facilities around the nation, but mostly he talked about Rhodey like he was some kind of lifeline. (And mostly because he had no brain to mouth filter and he just couldn’t seem to shut up).  
  
“I’m sorry,” Sam said suddenly.  
  
“What?”  
  
“I’m sorry I didn’t catch him,”  
  
Tony jolted away from the table. Tears flooding his eyes. His hands were shaking again.  
  
“No- no it’s not- It’s my- I should have done something- I _could_ have prevented-”  
  
“I’m sorry,” Sam said again.  
  
He didn’t say anything else as Tony abruptly left the room.  
  
Tony spent the rest of his day in a haze. He couldn’t concentrate on a single project. He didn’t leave the lab for dinner, instead drinking a smoothie that Dum-E made for him which made the bot very happy.  
  
Tony stilled suddenly. For a few moments he wasn’t sure why, but then he realized he could feel someone watching him. He didn’t recall FRIDAY saying someone wanted access to his lab- but he didn’t lock his lab down. After his conversation with Sam he had been too shaken to tell FRIDAY to lock up. Fuck.  
  
The gaze was pinsharp and achingly familiar. There was only one person whose gaze made him feel that.  
  
She hadn’t spoken yet, which could only mean she was either too mad at him to speak, or she was feeling guilty about something. Considering the fact that he wasn’t dead, he was going with the latter.  
  
“Let me guess,” Tony said dryly as he turned to face his ex-teammate.  
  
“You knew too,”  
  
Natasha actually flinched. She looked deeply ashamed of herself.  
  
“I thought he told you,” she said.  
  
“He told me would,”  
  
“Shocking,” Tony scoffed.  
  
“Rogers will lie to everyone as a means to keep Barnes safe,” he muttered.  
  
Nat opened her mouth a few times, like she was going to say something but something was stopping her.  
  
“I’m sorry,”  
  
“You should have told me what they made Barnes do,” Tony hissed.  
  
Her shoulders fell. Tony scrubbed his hands over his face and sighed. He was so goddamn tired of this betrayal.  
  
“I get it. I’m Tony Stark, Merchant of Death. Shitty things happen to me because I deserve them. It’s just my slot in life,” he said.  
  
“You don’t deserve this,” Natasha said hotly.  
  
“Then why did it happen, Natasha? W… why did he… why didn’t he tell me? I thought we were friends… why wasn’t I goo-” Tony stopped talking suddenly.  
  
Nat slowly walked toward him and knelt in front of him and took his hands in hers.  
  
“Tony,” she said quietly.  
  
“I’m sorry,”  
  
She lifted his hands to her lips and pressed a gentle kiss to his skin.  
  
“I’m so sorry,”  
  
_For everything_ , she thought.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's another apology, and Rhodey gets to thinking about some things.

Tony ran into Sam the following day in the kitchen. Once again it was because FRIDAY bullied him up for lunch.  
  
“Your AI bullied you up here again?” Sam asked with a small smile.  
  
Tony huffed out a small laugh and nodded.  
  
“ _Didn’t bully boss up here, just… coerced him_ ,” FRIDAY said pleasantly.  
  
“Threatened me with Rhodes,” Tony muttered.  
  
Sam smiled softly. Tony and his AI’s were a sight to behold. He didn’t say anything else while Tony made lunch. And, as he had the day before, Tony sat down across from Sam to eat.  
  
“I’m sorry I hit you with a repulsor,” Tony said suddenly, breaking the silence.  
  
Sam smiled ruefully.  
  
“It’s ok,”  
  
“No,” Tony said, quiet but forceful.  
  
“It’s not ok. You were just trying to help Rhodey. I shouldn’t have done that,”  
  
“I’m sorry,” he said again.  
  
They didn’t speak after that. They both finished their lunches in silence. When Tony was finished cleaned up his mess, shot Sam a soft smile, and walked out of the kitchen.  
  
Not long after Tony left, Clint and Natasha walked in bickering about something with smiles on their faces.

  
  


Rhodes laid back in his bed and stared up at the ceiling of his small room. He was tired, but he couldn’t seem to fall asleep. He was too wired. Or maybe he was just too tired to sleep. He couldn’t tell.  
  
On the nightstand next to him, his phone buzzed. He lifted it up and glanced at it, a snap from Tony. A smile worked its way onto his face before he could stop it. He swiped at the notification and tapped at his phone a few more times.  
  
The snap was Tony’s usual goodnight snap. A picture of his tired, smiling face, and ‘Goodnight platypus’ as a caption.  
  
Rhodey sent one back. His own tired, smiling face, and ‘Goodnight Tones’ as a caption. With that he set his phone back on the nightstand. He missed Tony.  
  
He missed Tony’s smiles, his laughter, the way his eyes lit up when he was talking about some new project, the way he talked to his bots- everything. Rhodes just missed everything about Tony.  
  
Somewhere along the way (after Afghanistan but before the Palladium poisoning) Rhodes had fallen in love with his best friend. Between the nicknames, the touches, the banter, and everything else he’d fallen fast and hard.  
  
It was the reason he was doing his PT in DC instead of staying with Tony. Tony had said please and batted his brown eyes at Rhodes and the next thing he knew he was on his way to DC.  
  
It was pathetic, really, at how little it had taken to get Rhodes to agree, but Rhodes would do just about anything for Tony. He had spent three months looking for him in Afghanistan (and would have looked for the rest of his life if needed), since the Palladium poisoning had faithfully stood by his side (Rhodes was still ashamed of how he’d acted).  
  
Rhodes sat up and started to take his braces off. The braces were sleek, and strong, and powerful, and so very Tony. Tony had stopped at nothing to make sure Rhodes was comfortable, to make sure the braces fit.  
  
Rhodes shook his head, no matter what he tried his thoughts always went back to Tony. _Tony, Tony, Tony_.  
  
He fell asleep to thoughts of Tony.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Footage from Siberia drops. Tony doesn't deal with it well. Rhodes just needs his friend to stop. ((warning for anti-steve talk))

The fact that Tony wasn’t expecting everything to crash and burn was saying something because he was _Tony Stark_ , things always ended up crashing and burning around him.  
  
“Honey bear!”  
  
Tony lit up at the sight of Rhodey. He was out of his wheelchair and was now using a cane.  
  
“Have you seen the news?” Rhodey asked.  
  
“What?”  
  
“FRIDAY!”  
  
A holographic screen appeared in front of them. Tony dropped the coffee mug in his hands, his face ashen.  
  
“H- how?”  
  
“I don’t know. Footage dropped early this morning,”  
  
Tony’s hands were shaking.  
  
“FRIDAY track down the leak. Put the Compound on total shutdown,” Rhodey ordered.  
  
“ _Yes, Colonel_ ,”  
  
“Come on, Tones,”  
  
Rhodey ushered his friend around the broken glass and coffee and out to the living room. Tony sat down on the couch, Rhodes sat next to him.  
  
“W-what are they saying?” Tony asked.  
  
“I don’t know. I just know that the footage was leaked,”  
  
Tony looked devastated.  
  
“We- we need to make a statement. I need to talk to Pepper,” he said.  
  
“Pep’s been informed. She’s handling the press right now with the PR team,” Rhodes replied.  
  
Tony let out an odd shudder, some kind of sob. Rhodes gathered him in his arms and for a long time they sat there. Tony was shaking like a leaf, and Rhodes just held him.  
  
“ _Incoming video call from Ms. Potts_ ,” FRIDAY said.  
  
Rhodes wasn’t sure how long they had been sitting like that, but Tony wasn’t shaking anymore. He slowly detached himself from Rhodey and sat up.  
  
“Patch her through, FRI,”  
  
A holographic screen appeared in front of them. Pepper looked worried.  
  
“How are you?”  
  
“How’s the Company?” Tony replied, easily brushing off her question.  
  
For just a moment Pepper looked dismayed that he hadn’t answered her question.  
  
“The public is sympathetic,” she said.  
  
Tony clearly hadn’t been expecting that news.  
  
“They’re what?”  
  
“They’re confused, and rioting, but overall their sympathies are with you,”  
  
“Send reparation money for damages,” Tony said without hesitation.  
  
“Already on that,”  
  
Tony nodded slowly.  
  
“What do we have to do?” Rhodes asked.  
  
“There’s going to have to be an official statement from Tony,” she said.  
  
“Right,”  
  
There was a tremor starting up in Tony’s hands. Rhodes took one of Tony’s hands in his own and have it a reassuring squeeze.  
  
“If that’s what I have to do,”  
  
“I’ll schedule one in for Wednesday,”  
  
Tony just nodded.  
  
“Will that be all, Mr. Stark?”  
  
“That will be all, Ms. Potts,” he said with a small smile.  
  
For a while he stared at the space where her face had been before he ran a hand through his hair.  
  
“They know about Siberia,” he whispered.  
  
“Tones,” Rhodey said slowly.  
  
“You heard her, the public is sympathetic,”  
  
“Why?” Tony asked.  
  
Before Rhodes could say- or do- anything, Tony exploded into motion. Pacing in front of Rhodes and muttering to himself.  
  
“Tones?”  
  
“Why are they sympathetic? They’ve _never_ been sympathetic! Not to me and certainly when it has to do with Cap. He’s their fucking golden child,” Tony spat.  
  
“You think they’re going to side with him after what he did?” Rhodes demanded.  
  
“Yes? God especially after what I did to Barnes. I shouldn’t have attacked him. He was brainwashed for fucks sake! He didn’t know what he was fucking doing. But I saw him go for my mom and all I could see was red, Rhodes. _My mom_. I blew off his arm,”  
  
Rhodes decided to not voice the fact that Barnes had been trying to tear out the arc reactor of the suit. He knew Tony still got nervous about the technology, even though it wasn’t in his chest anymore.  
  
“Why would they side with me after that?” he asked.  
  
“They’re sympathetic for a reason!”  
  
“Well they shouldn’t be,”  
  
“And why not?”  
  
“ _Because I’m Tony Stark!_ ” he shouted.  
  
He wasn’t pacing anymore. He was facing Rhodes, his hands clenched at his sides, his chest heaving, and tears in his eyes.  
  
“I’m the Merchant of Death,” he said, much quieter than before.  
  
“I deserve it,”  
  
“What?” Rhodes asked, feeling as though the wind had been knocked out of him.  
  
“Their hate,” Tony clarified.  
  
“I deserve it,” he repeated.  
  
“Tones,”  
  
Rhodes slowly stood up and tried to ignore the twinges of pain that came with the movement. He reached out for his friend and grabbed his arms and pulled him just a little closer.  
  
“I need you to listen to me,” Rhodes said quietly, trying to meet Tony’s eyes, but the genius was too busy looking at the floor. Rhodes moved his hands from Tony’s arms to the sides of his face.  
  
“Please,”  
  
At last Tony looked at him.  
  
“Everything you’ve done since Afghanistan has been to protect civilians. Even if some things didn’t work out the way you wanted, they were always made to protect. 117 countries told us they were scared of what we could do, and you listened to them and tried to make something work. The public sided with you because they saw the man that worked so _goddamn_ hard to protect them with the Accords get beaten and broken down by a man who abandoned them,” Rhodey said.  
  
“Rhodes,” Tony whispered.  
  
“You’re not going to say a thing. We’re going to sit our assess down, and FRIDAY is going to pull up that dumb Catfish show you love,” Rhodes said, leaving no room in his tone for Tony to argue.  
  
“Ok,”  
  
Rhodey and Tony stayed on the couch for the rest of the day, curled up against each other, watching a show about internet relationships.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Rogues find out about what happened in Siberia. ((Takes place at the same time as chpt 4))

_1\. Sam_  
Sam sat on his bed for a long time after the video stopped playing. He felt sick. He had been the one to tell Tony where Steve and Bucky had gone. He had sent Tony to Siberia. What happened to Tony, to Steve and Bucky had happened because Sam told Tony.  
  
“FRIDAY,” Sam rasped.  
  
“ _Yes_?”  
  
“Would Tony have been able to find out where Steve on his own?”  
  
“ _Zemo wanted to tear the Avengers apart from the inside. Had you not told him, Zemo somehow would have_ ,”  
  
Sam nodded slowly. Tony had always meant to be in Siberia. Sam laid back in his bed and dragged his hands down his face.  
  
Tony and Steve were supposed to be friends. Before the war, Steve had always talked about Tony with a kind of glowing admiration. Steve had still lied to and betrayed him. (Not that Tony didn’t lie to him about Ultron). But Steve had done what he did because of Bucky, because he wanted to protect Bucky. Sam didn’t know why Tony created Ultron but he had a feeling that it was more than Tony wanting to protect Rhodes.  
  
Sam and Steve were friends. Had been since the fall of SHIELD. Would Steve lie to him too? Especially if it was in regards to Bucky?

  


_2\. Clint_  
Clint sat on the roof of the Compound, trying to make sense of the video he’d seen. How could this had happened? Clint had gotten word that something was going down and he had gone to help.  
  
Why had he done that?  
  
Because it was Steve! He had never done something like that before. Clint had followed the super soldier into countless battles and the one against the Accords wasn’t supposed to be any different.  
  
Clint hadn’t really known what was going on when he’d gotten the call. Steve needed him and that’s all Clint needed to know.  
  
But now? Everything was so fucking messy.

  


_3\. Scott_  
Scott moved around his room in a flurry. He was _done_. He was done with the Avengers. They weren’t a team. No team would do this to each other.  
  
He was going home. He had been pardoned from his crime of following Captain America. He had no reason to stay on the Compound. He sighed the damn Accords. Now he was going home. He was going to apologize in a million different ways to Cassie. He was going to hope his wife would let him see her. And he was going to pray to every god he knew of that Hank Pym wasn’t going to throw his ass back in jail because he stole the suit. If the Avengers needed him then he’d show up, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to hang around the Compound and wait for the world to end. He had better things to do.

  


_4\. Wanda_  
Wanda stood in the middle of her room, her red mist surrounding her. As much as she hated Stark, he didn’t deserve to watch his parent’s die like that. Especially not with their killer in the same room.  
  
Wanda had not seen her parents die. She and Pietro had been hiding the second they heard the sirens. She had only ever seen the bomb that landed in the room, the name Stark branded on it. The very sight had driven her and her brother to HYDRA.  
  
She did not blame Stark for attacking Barnes like he had. Up until recently Wanda had been gunning for the genius’s death. She wanted him to pay for everything he put her through. And now he had gotten just a taste of what her life was like.  
  
For now, she could relent.

  


_5\. Natasha_  
Natasha had not known what happened in Siberia. She only knew that Tony found out what Barnes did back in his Winter Soldier days.  
  
“I let them go,” she said to herself.  
  
She had let Steve and Barnes get to the Quinjet. She’d stopped T’challa from getting to them. She had allowed this tragedy to start. If she hadn’t betrayed Tony, then maybe- just maybe- what happened in Siberia could have been avoided.  
  
She had fucked Tony over twice now. She hated herself for it but she didn’t know how to even start to try to make things right.  
  
“Fuck,” she hissed.

  


_+1. Steve_  
The holographic screen vanished, plunging the room into complete silence. Steve refused to look at the Wakandan’s in the room. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw T’challa stand.  
  
“How long did you think you could get away with this?”  
  
“I didn’t-”  
  
T’challa held up his hand and walked out of the room, the Wakandan’s followed their King, not sparing Steve a second glance.  
  
Steve looked back at the place where the holographic screen was, a tight frown on his face. Why had Tony released the footage?


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony does a press conference. Nat and Tony have a conversation. ((sidenote: idk how to write press so here have this)).

Tony looked out at all the reporters. He didn’t want to do this. He didn’t want to think- let alone talk- about Siberia.  
  
“Mr. Stark reserves the right to not answer a question,” Pepper said.  
  
She and Rhodey were standing off to the side with Happy. Tony tucked his hands in his pockets so no one would see how they shook.  
  
“First question?”  
  
The reporters went wild, trying to get him to call on them.  
  
“Ms. Everhart?”  
  
Christine smiled up at him from the crowd. As much as she antagonized Tony, it was nice to see a familiar face.  
  
“Would you have killed Captain Rogers?”  
  
Tony mentally flipped her off. Judging by the smirk on her face, she knew.  
  
“No,” he said.  
  
“We still need Captain America,”  
  
“Do you you still want to kill Sergeant Barnes?”  
  
“No,” he said again.  
  
“What he did… was HYDRA. I can’t blame him for something he was brainwashed and forced to do,”  
  
There was some gentle murmuring from the reporters. Christine looked satisfied with his responses. Tony picked another reporter.  
  
“Do you hate Captain Rogers for what he did?”  
  
Tony blinked a few times and absentmindedly rubbed his chest.  
  
“No,” he said quietly.  
  
“I do not,”  
  
And it was the truth, as crazy as it was. As pissed as he was at what Steve did, he didn’t hate the guy.  
  
“Next,”  
  
“Have you heard from Captain Rogers since?”  
  
For a split second Tony considered lying.  
  
“I have,”  
  
“What did he say?”  
  
“He sent me a phone and told me to call if I needed him,”  
  
“Do you know where he is?” a new reporter asked.  
  
“I don’t care where he is,” Tony replied.  
  
“If he wanted to come back, would you pardon him like you pardoned the others? What about Sergeant Barnes?”  
  
“That’s up to the UN. They approved the pardons for the rest of the Avengers, they’re in charge of Captain Rogers and Sergeant Barnes’ pardon,” Tony replied.  
  
“Would you testify against them?”  
  
“I wouldn’t testify at all. Even after what happened, they both deserve a fair trial. My testimony would be unfairly biased,” Tony said.  
  
He answered a few more questions before he ended the conference.  
  
“How awful was that?” Tony asked as he, Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy headed for the car.  
  
“Nothing tops your ‘I am Iron Man’ press conference,” Pepper said lightly.  
  
A smile flickered across his face.  
  
“That one was pretty iconic,” Tony agreed.  
  
“Cheeseburgers?” Happy asked.  
  
“You know just the way to my heart,”  
  
Happy got into the driver’s seat while Pepper took the passenger seat and Tony and Rhodes slid into the back. Rhodes took hold of Tony’s hand, feeling a thrill of pleasure when the tremors slowed to a stop. As promised, Happy stopped for cheeseburgers which they enjoyed in Tony’s suite at the Compound. When they were finished they separated. Pepper and Rhodes left with Happy.  
  
“ _Ms. Romanoff is requesting access_ ,” FRIDAY said.  
  
“Let her in,”  
  
There was an audible click and Natasha walked into the room. She was in her pajamas.  
  
“Can I sit?” she asked, gesturing to the bed.  
  
“Sure,”  
  
She delicately perched on his bed and crisscrossed her legs.  
  
“I think you handled today well,”  
  
Tony looked surprised.  
  
“Thanks,” he said.  
  
“Everhart’s a bitch as always,” she commented.  
  
That startled a laugh out of him.  
  
“She’s just doing her job,” he replied with a small shrug.  
  
“Did you mean what you said?”  
  
“About?”  
  
“Hating Steve,”  
  
Tony laid back on his bed and looked up at the ceiling.  
  
“Yea,” he said quietly.  
  
“I meant it,”  
  
Nat nodded slowly.  
  
“Did you need something Natatat?”  
  
A smile crossed her lips.  
  
“Just wanted to see how you were doing,” she said.  
  
“I’m fine,” he said.  
  
“Are you?”  
  
Tony looked at her and smiled softly.  
  
“Always,”  
  
Nat didn’t believe him, Tony knew she didn’t.  
  
“Night Tony,”  
  
“Night Natatat,”  
  
She offered him a small smile before she stood up and walked out of his room, the door shut with a soft click behind her.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The press conference is over, Tony is hoping for one (1) normal day, then he gets a call from King T'challa and things go downhill from there.

As per usual, Tony was woken up by FRIDAY. He had his coffee, his toast, and his meds. He didn’t feel as tired as he usually did. He wanted to get down to the lab and get to work.  
  
He had only been working for an hour when FRIDAY turned his music off.  
  
“FRI?” he asked.  
  
“ _King T’challa is requesting a video chat,_ ” she said.  
  
Tony froze. His hands were shaking again. Rogers and Barnes were taking refuge in Wakanda. Tony had known since Siberia.  
  
“Patch him through,”  
  
Tony sat up straight and folded his hands on his lap to hide their shaking. A holographic video appeared in front of Tony.  
  
“Ah! Kitty Cat! What’s up?” Tony asked, throwing on his best media grin.  
  
“Dr. Stark,”  
  
Tony sat up a little straighter. About time someone acknowledge his PhD’s.  
  
“I’ve seen your latest press conference,” T’challa said.  
  
“Well I’m flattered,”  
  
“Is what happened in Siberia happened as it did in the video?” T’challa asked, cutting right to the point.  
  
Tony winced.  
  
“Yea,”  
  
T’challa nodded, short and calculating.  
  
“I no longer wish to house Captain Rogers and Sergeant Barnes. Wakanda is not a safe haven for those who betray their friends, and lie to me,”  
  
Tony’s heart started to beat a little bit faster. T’challa wasn’t saying what Tony thought he was saying, was he?  
  
“I will turn them out, the UN can deal with them,”  
  
Tony dragged his hand down his face and sighed.  
  
“Look- your Majesty, I get it. Rogers is a pain in the ass but he’s still a National Icon. And Barnes? He’s the longest held POW,” Tony said.  
  
T’challa didn’t look very pleased.  
  
“You think I should allow them to stay?”  
  
“I don’t know,” Tony admitted.  
  
He hated saying those words.  
  
“Then shall we discuss?”  
  
“Sure,”  
  
For the next hour and a half they discussed what should be done about Rogers and Barnes. It was easier to deal with Barnes, he had been brainwashed and tortured for 70 years. Tony knew what happened to his parents was HYDRA’s fault, not Barnes’. But Rogers, on the other hand, was a completely different story. He hadn’t been brainwashed when he betrayed Tony.  
  
Barnes would get a therapist, or two, and use the BARF technology to deprogram the words in his head. Both T’challa and Tony figured that the UN would be insane to not agree to acquit the man on the basis of extreme physical and psychological torture.  
  
Once again Rogers was the problem. If the video hadn’t been leaked then there wouldn’t be a problem. But it had. The UN might not be lenient due to it.  
  
“Three days,” T’challa said.  
  
“Sounds good, Kitty Cat,”  
  
T’challa smiled and the video feed cut out.  
  
“Well, fuck,” Tony said to no one in particular.  
  
“ _Captain Danvers is requesting you in the communal living room_ ,”  
  
Tony wanted to pitch a fit and stay in his lab. All he wanted to do was get caught up in his work, listen to music too loudly, and try to drown out the thoughts in his head.  
  
“Fine,”  
  
He dragged himself out of his lab and up to the communal living room. All of the Avengers were there. Fuck.  
  
“What’s going on?”  
  
“We’re waiting on two more,” Carol said.  
  
Tony looked around the room. Sam, Clint, and Wanda were already there. Who could the other two be? That ant-guy wasn’t there, maybe they were waiting on him and someone else? Tony didn’t know if Carol had been recruiting for new Avengers, if she had, why hadn’t she said anything?  
  
“Sorry I’m late!” Hope van Dyne said as she rushed into the room.  
  
Tony lit up.  
  
“Hope!”  
  
“Tony!”  
  
Hope was very gentle as she hugged him. Tony was grateful for that as he was still healing.  
  
“I didn’t know you would be here,” Tony said.  
  
“Captain Marvel wanted the Wasp on the Avengers, and she has her,” Hope said proudly.  
  
“That’s great!”  
  
Next to Tony, a circle of sparks appeared. Tony turned to Carol, absolutely flabbergasted.  
  
“You did not,”  
  
Out of the circle of sparks stepped Stephen Strange in all his freaky caped glory.  
  
“Ah! Hope I’m not too late,” Strange said.  
  
“Nope! No! You don’t get to magic yourself into my house! Please go back in your sparky circle and appear outside the Compound like a normal person,” Tony said.  
  
“Stark,” Carol sighed.  
  
“Go on,” Tony said to Stephen.  
  
Strange held his hands up, a gesture of surrender. He created another circle of sparks and stepped through it. The sparks vanished and Tony nodded in satisfaction.  
  
“Why?” Carol asked.  
  
“Strange is an old friend,” Tony explained with a small smile.  
  
“Facial hair-bros and what not,”  
  
“ _Stephen Strange is requesting entry_ ,” FRIDAY interrupted.  
  
“Let him in,”  
  
It was a few moments before Strange walked into the room looking thoroughly disgruntled.  
  
“Thank you, Anthony,” he said.  
  
“I don’t break into your house,” Tony replied.  
  
“You have once actually,” Strange replied.  
  
“Now we’re even,”  
  
“So it would seem,”  
  
They stared at each other for a moment before they broke into a grin and exchanged a quick hug.  
  
“If that’s all,” Carol said.  
  
“Sorry Carol,” Tony said.  
  
“So as it would seem, Barton has chosen to go back to his family. Lang left the day the footage from Siberia dropped,” Carol said.  
  
“Right,” Tony said eloquently.  
  
“And Wanda is still vastly untrained,”  
  
Wanda hissed.  
  
“I want her close so I can keep an eye on her, and Strange is the one I know with the power to teach her,” Carol said, ignoring Wanda.  
  
“Right,”  
  
“In terms of Avengers, who do we have?”  
  
“Me, you, Sam, and Hope,”  
  
“On reserve?”  
  
“Ms. Potts and Spiderboy,”  
  
Tony nodded slowly.  
  
“And of course Colonel Rhodes,”  
  
Then they needed Rogers back. Barnes too once he was cleared. There was officially no getting out of this mess. Fuck.  
  
“Rogers and Barnes are coming back,” Tony said.  
  
The room tensed.  
  
“T’challa refuses to house them anymore,”  
  
“Will the UN allow that?” Carol asked.  
  
“For Barnes? Yea. World’s longest held POW. They’d be insane to find him guilty. I have the means and the tools to help get him better,”  
  
There was a question hanging in the air that no one seemed to want to ask.  
  
“And… Rogers?” Carol asked softly, breaking the silence.  
  
Tony looked at her for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to explain that he had no idea what the UN was going to do with Rogers. Carol, bless her, seemed to understand exactly what he was trying to say.  
  
“Right,” she said softly.  
  
“Then we have to be prepared for both outcomes,” she said.  
  
Three days. Tony had three days to prepare to house the man that he almost killed (and who killed his parents), and possibly the man that almost killed him. He could do this.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A glimpse inside the three days before Rogers and Barnes come home. ((this will be the last update till mid-december. sorry y'all it's finals time))

_Day 1_  
Tony locked himself in his workshop. It was easier to ignore everything if he was in his workshop. He could pretend that everything was fine when he was in his workshop. He’d instructed FRIDAY to not let anyone in- except for Rhodey. Rhodey was always welcome.  
  
But Tony needed to keep himself distracted. So he glossed over FRIDAY’s code, and played around with Dum-E, U, and Butterfingers. He even filled out the paperwork that Pepper needed him to fill out.  
  
When he was finished with the paperwork, and the bots were all back at their charging stations, and there was nothing left to do with FRIDAY’s code, he moved onto the multitude of other projects he was supposed to be working on.  
  
But even those didn’t keep his interest for long. He was wired. He was worried.  
  
“Dum-E,” he called at last.  
  
The bot chirped and zoomed over to him.  
  
“Let’s make sure all your bolts are screwed on right, shall we?” he asked.  
  
He talked to Dum-E as he worked on polishing the bot up. While Tony rarely said so, he loved the bot so damn much. He was Tony’s first functioning AI. He always joked about Dum-E being low-functioning, but there were few things in his life that Tony was prouder of than Dum-E.

  


_Day 2_  
Tony relaxed back in one of his comfier chairs in his lab. It had _lumbar support_ because his honey bear had insisted upon it, and where Rhodes in insisted, Tony always gave in.  
  
Tony had spent the day getting the UN prepared for Rogers and Barnes’s arrival. There had been some yelling and some arguing, but all things considered the calls had gone well. From what he gathered, the UN were sympathetic to Barnes, and less so to Rogers. Tony understood completely.  
  
The public knew that the two super-soldiers were going to be coming back and going to trial for what happened. Tony refused to ask FRIDAY how they were reacting, just told her to make sure any damages were paid for if they started to riot.  
  
He really hoped they weren’t going to riot.  
  
“ _Boss_?” FRIDAY called.  
  
“Hm?”  
  
“ _There’s an incoming call from the Keener residence_ ,”  
  
Tony paused for a moment and scrunched his nose up. Keener?  
  
“Where’s the call originating from, baby girl?”  
  
“ _Tennessee_ ,”  
  
“Harley,”  
  
“Patch him through,”  
  
“So you remember when we met and you were constantly freaking out about New York?” Harley asked.  
  
“I have vague memories of you giving me panic attacks, yes,” Tony replied with a smile on his face.  
  
“Alright whatever, old man, I told you that you should talk to someone,” Harley muttered.  
  
Tony actually laughed at that.  
  
“Any particular reason you’re calling me after… 4 years? Wow four years. I can’t believe you didn’t call sooner. I thought we had a connection,” Tony said.  
  
“A-are you guilt tripping me?”  
  
Tony laughed again.  
  
“I’m calling because I’m going to be in New York in a few weeks. Told my mom I was going to look at colleges. But… I lied. I already know where I’m going,” Harley said.  
  
“Compounds always open for you, kid,” Tony told him.  
  
“I know,” Harley scoffed like he hadn’t ever considered the possibility of staying anywhere else.  
  
“You’re like… alright, right?”  
  
“Yea,”  
  
“You said that last time,”  
  
“Yea I know I did,” Tony said.  
  
There was a moment of silence.  
  
“I’ll see you in a few weeks,” Harley said at last.  
  
“See you then, kid,” Tony said before he ended the call.  
  
Tony sat back in his chair with a smile on his face, he definitely had not thought he’d hear from Harley again.  
  
“It’ll be good to see Harley again, huh?” he asked.  
  
“ _I’ve… I’ve never met him, Boss_ ,” FRIDAY informed him.  
  
Just like that the smile was wiped from his face. JARVIS wasn’t around anymore and still sometimes Tony missed his first fully functioning AI so much he ached.  
  
“That’s right. Sorry baby girl,”

  


_Day 3_  
“I don’t know if I can do this, Rhodes,” Tony admitted, his voice small.  
  
Rhodes just stared at him.  
  
“I don’t know if I can face him,”  
  
“You don’t have to do this,” Rhodes said quietly.  
  
Tony ran his hand through his hair and squeezed his eyes shut.  
  
“Yea,” he sighed softly.  
  
“I do,”  
  
Rhodey pushed himself over so he was lying on his side, head propped up by his palm. His free hand was resting near Tony’s shirt, his fingers twined in the well worn fabric.  
  
“He deserves to be able to redeem himself to the public. He’s still Captain America. We still need him,” Tony said tiredly.  
  
“When’s the last time you slept, Tones?”  
  
“Since T’challa called. Can’t get it to shut up,” he murmured as he tapped his temple.  
  
“If you try and get some sleep I’ll let you cuddle me,” Rhodey teased.  
  
Tony’s lips lifted in a tired smile.  
  
“You should be so lucky,” he responded.  
  
For a moment they were silent. Rhodey’s fingers were still twined in Tony’s shirt.  
  
“Should I be doing this?” Tony asked at last.  
  
“What?”  
  
“With Rogers and Barnes,”  
  
Rhodes frowned.  
  
“You know what I think Tones,”  
  
Tony turned his head to look at Rhodes, a vulnerable and raw expression on his face. It would be so easy for Rhodes to just lean over to kiss him.  
  
“Guess I do buttercup,”  
  
For just a moment they stared at each other before Tony yawned and stretched out his body.  
  
“Now I believe I was promised cuddles?”  
  
Rhodes huffed and turned over so his back was to Tony, because no matter how much Tony insisted otherwise, Rhodes knew his best friend loved being the big spoon. He was proved right once again when Tony latched onto him and threw one arm around his middle, keeping him close.  
  
“Night platypus,” Tony murmured, his voice right in Rhodey’s ear.  
  
“Night Tones,”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trial of Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes, and things don't exactly go as expected. ((i have no fuckin idea how to write a trial y'all))

Tony was still curled around Rhodes when he woke the following morning. He stayed there for a moment, refusing to get out of bed, refusing to even open his eyes.  
  
It was the day of the trial and Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes were coming back. Tony was definitely not ready for this.  
  
“ _Morning Boss, Colonel Rhodes, it is oh-seven hundred hours_ ,” FRIDAY said cheerfully.  
  
Tony groaned.  
  
“C’mon Tones, you have a big day ahead of you,”  
  
“If I’m not testifying do I even have to show up?”  
  
“Yes,”  
  
“ _Yes_ ,”  
  
Tony lifted his hand to flip off both his best friend and his smart ass AI. He de-tangled himself from Rhodes and they both slowly got out of bed. Tony helped Rhodes put his braces on and they two shuffled to the kitchen. Two cups of coffee, a few pieces of toast, and one shower later, Tony was all but ready to spend his day at court. Rhodes took a little to get ready (one cup of coffee, four pieces of toast, and shower that took at least 30 minutes (not that Tony was counting or anything)).  
  
“ _Ms. Romanoff is requesting entry_ ,” FRIDAY said.  
  
Tony looked at Rhodes, he was adjusting his blazer. He met Tony’s gaze and shrugged.  
  
“Let her in,”  
  
Natasha walked in looking every bit professional as she was deadly.  
  
“Good morning,” she said.  
  
“Morning Nat,”  
  
“How are you feeling?”  
  
“Fine,”  
  
“Are you?”  
  
Tony threw on his best press smirk. Natasha didn’t look convinced, not that she ever did, and Rhodes snorted.  
  
“Rogers and Barnes are set to arrive at the courthouse in an hour and a half,” she told them.  
  
Tony’s hands were shaking again.  
  
“Happy’s here with Miss Potts to take you to the jetport,” she added.  
  
Tony nodded.  
  
“Shall we, platypus?” he asked as he turned to look at Rhodes.  
  
“Can’t keep Pepper waiting,” Rhodes agreed.  
  
“Is Happy not driving all of us?” Tony asked, Nat’s words finally catching up with him.  
  
“Carol thought it best if we rode separately,”  
  
_Wanda_. He was going to have to buy Carol something shiny for her thoughtfulness.  
  
“Right,”  
  
“Ready, Tones?”  
  
“Yea,”

  
  


The flight to DC took two hours. Tony spent most of the jet ride pacing up and down the aisle.  
  
When they got off the jet, Happy drove them to the courthouse. There were reporters everywhere, but for the first time Tony paid them no mind. He offered his arms out to Pepper and Rhodes and the three of them made their way into the courthouse.  
  
Steve Rogers was the first thing Tony saw when they entered the room. Tall and blonde and _oh god I can’t do this_.  
  
“You can do it, Tones,” Rhodes whispered.  
  
They made it to their table in front of the Judge and sat down next to Tony’s lawyer. Tony could feel Rogers’ eyes on him, he pointedly kept his gaze focused on the table, trying to ignore Rogers as best he could.  
  
The trial started at 11:00 exactly.  
  
Rogers, Barnes, and then Tony were called onto the stand to explain what had happened in Siberia. Tony recounted what had happened with his hands folded on his lap so no one could see how badly they were shaking.  
  
“I shouldn’t have gone after him like that. But I had just watched him murder my mom- my parents- and I acted impulsively,” Tony finished.  
  
“You have already proposed a way to help Sergeant Barnes with the process of getting rid of the conditioning HYDRA forced upon him?”  
  
“Yes, ma’am,”  
  
“And to aid this you have in your position the- BARF? What is that?”  
  
“Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing. It will allow Sergeant Barnes to access his most painful memories and change them. Therefore, allowing him to deprogram himself from the Words,”  
  
“And you’re willing to let Barnes use it?”  
  
“Yes, ma’am,” Tony said.  
  
“And you’d be willing to allow Sergeant Barnes and Captain Rogers?”  
  
“If they’re acquitted and if they sign the Accords. The Compound is home to all Avengers, should they chose it,” Tony said.  
  
“Thank you, Mr. Stark,”  
  
Tony stood and walked back to his seat. Rhodey’s hand curled around his own. Tony felt like he could breathe a little easier.

  
  


“And your personal relationship with Captain Rogers?”  
  
Rhodes briefly glanced at Tony.  
  
“Out of respect for Tony, I’m not going to speak about that,” he said.  
  
“Very well,”  
  
He was pulled off the stand and sat back down next to Tony, once more wrapping his hand around Tony’s.  
  
The UN called up the rest of the New Avengers. Vision, like Rhodes, only testified on his professional relationship to the Captain. Sam and Wanda testified to both their professional and personal relationship to the Captain. 

  
  


“If we’re connecting the dots here, you and Captain Rogers were in the same room when he found out about Howard and Maria Stark, would this be a correct assumption?”  
  
Natasha actually winced.  
  
“Yes,”  
  
“And you didn’t tell Mr. Stark of this information either?”  
  
“Rogers told me not to. I thought it was because he was going to do it himself. I never had reason to disobey an order from Captain Rogers before so I decided to follow it,” she said.  
  
“Thank you, Agent Romanoff,” 

  
  


And of course, that’s when life decided to throw yet another curve ball to Tony. They called Pepper Potts to the stand.  
  
_Oh fuck_.  
  
“State your identity,”  
  
“Virginia ‘Pepper’ Potts, Reserve Avenger, former girlfriend and personal assistant of Tony Stark, current CEO of SI and his best friend,” Pepper said, her head held high.  
  
_Oh fuck_.  
  
“You wish to testify against Steve Rogers?”  
  
“I wish to testify for Tony, if that means testifying against Steve Rogers then so be it,”  
  
_Oh fuck_.  
  
“When Tony was invited in on the Avengers Initiative he read up on Thermonuclear Astrophysics so he could be prepared for whatever was going to be thrown his way, so he could be useful to his new team. When the Accords were introduced, Captain Rogers barely glanced at them before abandoning his team,” Pepper said, staring right at Rogers as she spoke.  
  
“Thank you,” she said. She stood and walked back over to Tony and sat down next to him.

  
  


It wasn’t long after Pepper’s testimony that the Jury was called out of the room to discuss the fate of Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes.  
  
“Scalding testimony,” Natasha commented from behind Pepper.  
  
Pepper turned in her chair to smile at the other woman.  
  
“I’ve been wanting to say that for months now,”  
  
Tony dropped his forehead to the table. Rhodes gently rubbed his back.  
  
For the next three hours Tony sat there with Rhodes and Pepper. He spent his time ignoring Rogers and Barnes and talking with Natasha, who had some insightful observations about the various members of the Jury.

  
  


Everett Ross stood and faced the masses.  
  
“In the case of Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes, you are hereby acquitted for all crimes over the past 70 years and are free to go under the condition that you sign the Accords, attend intensive therapy and use the BARF technology as provided by Mr. Stark,” he said.  
  
Tony held Rhodey’s hand a little tighter.  
  
“In the case of Captain Steven Grant Rogers, you are hereby acquitted for the crimes you committed during the so-called ‘Civil War’. You are free to go, permitted you sign the Accords,”  
  
Mutterings broke out throughout the court. Tony stood. He felt Rogers and Barnes look at him, he refused to look at them. He made his way to where the Jury was still sitting and quietly thanked them for their time.  
  
Then he, Rhodes, and Pepper walked out of the court and into the limo that was still parked outside the courthouse.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barnes and Rogers are back at the Compound, some talks are had, and Bucky is reunited with someone from his past (and not in a good way)

Bucky stood outside Tony’s lab. He and Steve had been back in the Compound for a few days and neither of them had seen the resident genius. Actually, outside of training and bonding sessions, Bucky hadn’t seen much of the Avengers in general.  
  
According to Captain Marvel, Clint had gone home to his wife, Scott had gone home to his daughter, and Wanda was training with Dr. Strange. Having only had fleeting glances at them, Bucky really had no idea who they were.  
  
The door to the lab opened with a hiss. Bucky swallowed and stepped inside. He resisted the urge to whistle lowly. The lab was something else. He’d never seen anything like it, not even in Wakanda.  
  
There was an excited beep and Bucky turned in time to see a large robot zooming at him from the other end of the lab.  
  
“Dum-E no!” Stark barked.  
  
The bot stopped just short of Bucky, it’s claw extended toward his metal arm.  
  
“Hello,” Bucky said quietly.  
  
The bot chirped.  
  
“Back to your charging station. You’ve had enough excitement today,” Stark said as he walked over to the bot.  
  
The bot- Dum-E- chirped again and zoomed off.  
  
“Sorry about him. He’s like a puppy,” Stark said.  
  
Bucky looked at him, the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up, showing the oil stains on his forearms, there was a crease in his forehead, and wrinkles around his eyes, he didn’t look particularly excited to see Bucky.  
  
“What brings you down here, Buckaroo?” Stark asked as he rubbed his hands together.  
  
“Maintenance,” Bucky said automatically, a trait he had yet to drop from his conditioning.  
  
Stark’s dark gaze locked on his arm, a present from King T’challa. He gave a sharp nod and pulled two chairs to a workbench and gestured to one. Bucky walked over to it and sat down, he set his arm on the workbench so Stark could have easy access to it.  
  
Stark easily unhooked a few of the panels and went to work. For a while Bucky was entranced by the way the genius worked. He was so fluid, it was almost like magic.  
  
It occured to Bucky then, that there was a reason Stark seemed so accustomed to the arm.  
  
“You designed it, didn’t you?”  
  
Stark glanced up at him for a brief moment.  
  
“I shot off your other one. Seemed fitting that I should be the one to make you a new one,”  
  
“It’s amazing,”  
  
“It’s Stark Tech, of course it is,”  
  
Bucky huffed out a small laugh.  
  
“Why are you doin’ this for me?”  
  
“What do you mean?” Stark asked around the screwdriver in his mouth.  
  
“Everythin’, the arm, the… BARF, I don’t think I deserve this kind of second chance,”  
  
Tony’s fingers stilled and he took the screwdriver from his mouth as he sat back in his chair.  
  
“When SI was still manufacturing weapons, I- it killed millions of people. I was given the chance to redeem not only myself, but my company. You deserve to have the same chance I did- even more so,”  
  
“After what I did-”  
  
“We’ve all done fucked up shit,” Stark said as he went back to working on the arm.  
  
They didn’t say anything else until Stark had finished his work on the arm. He closed up the panels and Bucky rotated his arm and wrist a few times.  
  
“Amazin',” he said quietly.  
  
If Stark hear the praise, he didn’t say anything.  
  
“Thank you,” Bucky said.  
  
“Uh huh. If it acts up you can swing by,”  
  
Bucky just nodded. Tony walked over to him, there was something small in his grasp.  
  
“Here,” Stark said as he shoved a pair of glasses into Bucky’s hand. Must be the BARF.  
  
“And uh… good luck,”  
  
Bucky blinked in surprise and looked up at Stark- Tony- and smiled softly.  
  
“Thank you,”

  
  


“Tones,”  
  
Tony glanced up to see Rhodes.  
  
“Hey honeybear,”  
  
“How was today?”  
  
Tony set down his tablet and chewed on the inside of his cheek. How had it gone? Barnes had been… nice?... and while Tony had been incredibly nervous he didn’t feel angry at the man over what had happened.  
  
“Fine. I think,” Tony said.  
  
“Yea?”  
  
Rhodes sat on the bed and started to take his braces off. Tony pretended that he wasn’t secretly thrilled that Rhodes was staying the night in his bed. Again.  
  
“Did you talk about…?”  
  
“No. Maybe once he gets a handle on therapy,”  
  
“That’s surprisingly grown up,”  
  
“I have my moments,”  
  
Rhodes laughed. It was like sunshine.  
  
“How’s Rogers?” Tony asked.  
  
“Kind of an asshole. Ask’s about you, though,”  
  
Tony frowned.  
  
“Wants to know why you’ll see Barnes and not him,”  
  
“Rogers got on my ass about Ultron, about how much he hated it when his teammates- friends- kept shit from him, yet he went behind my back and kept the truth about my parents from me. He looked me in my eyes- talking shit about truth- when he knew…” Tony shook his head.  
  
“Barnes, at least, has the excuse of being brainwashed,”  
  
“I don’t think that counts an excuse, Tones,”  
  
Tony smiled softly.  
  
“Would you come to bed already, platypus? I need someone to cuddle,”

  
  


Bucky rounded the archway into the front room. It was 5 am which meant it was time for his run. Thanks to Sta- Tony’s- BARF technology, and some intensive therapy, he was finally starting to feel like a real person again, and it had only been a few weeks since he started with both of them. He was even getting some of his memories back, most of them were of before the War, which were great, and a few of them were from his time with HYDRA which was… less great.  
  
He had even been asking FRIDAY to help catch him up on everything he had missed with the Avengers. So far he was caught up to the beginnings of Ultron. FRIDAY had detailed to him what had happened to 'Boss' in the bunker with the scepter, as all Bucky had seen was a haze of red mist.  
  
Before he even got to the front door he was stopped. There were two people in his way. A man with a weird, floaty red cape, and- HYDRA’s Scarlet Menace.  
  
“ _You_?” Bucky hissed.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky remembers a couple things about HYDRA's Scarlet Menace and has a few things to say to the Witch. ((Edit: I messed with Wanda’s timeline, made her a little older in this fic so when she first started testing her powers, Bucky was still under HYDRA’s control))

There she was, the Scarlet Menace, the one thing from HYDRA that still scared him, standing in front of him as if she belonged on the Compound.  
The man standing next to her opened up a portal made of sparks, stepped through it, and vanished.  
  
“Me?” the Witch asked cautiously.  
  
Bucky snarled and advanced on her. She shrunk back, her hands igniting in a scarlet mist. Bucky suddenly wished for any kind of weapon so he could stop her from using her powers, _permanently_.  
  
“Hey!” Rogers barked. The Captain’s sudden presence didn’t phase Bucky. He had once learned the hard way to never take his eyes off the Witch.  
  
“FRIDAY said there was some trouble?”  
  
“Did you think I wouldn’t recognize you, Witch?” Bucky snarled, completely ignoring Rogers questions.  
  
“I- I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said.  
  
“Don’ play stupid with me you little-”  
  
“Buck!” Rogers said sharply.  
  
“She was at the trial. She testified for us! Whoever you think she is, she’s not,” Rogers said.  
  
Bucky didn’t bother mentioning that he had only looked at his lawyer and Steve during the trial because he knew that if his gaze strayed from them, he’d end up looking at Stark and see something like hatred in the genius’s eyes, something he really hadn’t wanted to see.  
  
“I think she’s exac’ly who I think she is,” Bucky said.  
  
There was fear trickling down his spine. He knew what she could do. God he was scared of her.  
  
“What?” Rogers asked.  
  
“HYDRA left me with a lot of gaps in my memory. Thanks to some pretty intensive therapy I’ve been able to fill some of them,” Bucky said, not bothering to take his eyes off the Witch. He remembered her power, her gleeful laugh when she tore people apart from inside their own heads.  
  
“And I remember you,”  
  
Wanda took a step back. She was afraid. Somewhere in the back of his mind the Winter Soldier made a pleased noise. He feared her too.  
  
“I remember everything you’ve ever done, Witch,”  
  
“I am not that person anymore! You should know what that is like!” Wanda protested.  
  
“Bullshit!” Bucky spewed.  
  
“HYDRA forced this onto me. _Against my will_. You voluntarily joined HYDRA. The organization that did this to me,” Bucky snapped, gesturing to the whole of himself with his metal hand.  
  
“I didn’t-”  
  
“She was a kid,” Rogers said calmly.  
  
“She’s the same age we were when we signed up for the Army, Rogers,” Bucky replied.  
  
Steve didn’t seem to have anything to say to that. Bucky turned back to the Witch. She was still afraid. _Good_.  
  
“You knew,” Bucky hissed.  
  
“You knew what HYDRA did to me and still you let her join? After what she did to you?”  
  
“Buck-”  
  
“She forced her way into your minds and made you experience your worst fear. And she just gets away with it? No repercussions?”  
  
“I know I have made my mistakes, but I’m _trying_ ,” she pleaded, now appealing to Rogers to back her up.  
  
“C’mon Buck, she doesn’t deserve this,”  
  
His words only served to anger Bucky further.  
  
“You wanna talk about not deservin’ somethin’?” Bucky snarled.  
  
“‘Cause I don’t think I deserved getting captured by HYDRA and tortured into being their assassin for 70 years. I don’t think Romanoff deserved what happened in the Red Room- or to relive those experiences. I don’t think Stark deserved to see his so called friends die because he didn’t do enough. I don’t-”  
  
“Wait, what?” Rogers asked, turning to face Wanda.  
  
“Tony wasn’t with us when she hit us, he was going after Ultron,” Rogers said.  
  
Bucky trained his gaze on Wanda, who seemed to shrink back.  
  
“I- it was before that. In Sokovia. He was near the scepter when I hit him,” the Witch admitted.  
  
“What did he see?”  
  
“I- I just wanted to make him pay-”  
  
This time it was Rogers who advanced on her.  
  
“What did he see?”  
  
“You- the team- dying around him. You used your dying breath to ask him why he didn’t do more to save you all,”  
  
“That’s why he built Ultron,” a new voice said.  
  
Everyone turned to see Clint Barton.  
  
“Clint!”  
  
“You let all of us blame Tony for that,” Clint continued, a frown on his face.  
  
“After what he did-”  
  
“By the time the bomb hit your apartment complex, SI hadn’t been producing weapons for almost 5 years,” Clint interrupted.  
  
The Witch looked stunned. Rogers sagged slightly, scrubbing his hand over his eyes. Bucky kept his gaze on the Witch.  
  
“I’m goin’ for a run,” he said at last.  
  
“You keep that fuckin’ Witch away from me. If I so much as feel her brushing my mind I’ll put a bullet between her eyes,” Bucky growled before he stalked out to the grounds.

  
  


After his confrontation with the Witch, Bucky had to sit down for a while. He tried to go on his run, but he was too wired up, and too afraid.  
  
Someone sat down next to him. Bucky didn’t have to look up to know it was Star- Tony.  
  
“FRIDAY told me you confronted Maximoff,” S- Tony said.  
  
“Thought I escaped HYDRA,” Bucky responded.  
  
“She’s… she’s pretty fuckin’ loyal to Rogers,” Tony grumbled.  
  
“Why would FRIDAY tell me something like that?” Bucky asked.  
  
“I’m not trying to hide it, not anymore. I tried to tell them I was afraid. I’ve seen the armies in space, and if I could’ve done something to protect my friends…”  
  
“They never seemed interested in my reasons. Called me egotistical and left it at that,”  
  
After a few more moments Tony stood and walked back to the Compound.

  
  


“You’re back,” Tony stated as he sat next to Clint in the media room.  
  
“Yep,”  
  
For a few moments they were silent, the only sound in the room was the TV playing some kind of cheesy movie.  
  
“Laura divorced me,” Clint said at last as he pushed a bottle of beer across the coffee table toward Tony. A peace offering.  
  
Tony just leaned forward and picked the beer up, next to him, Clint nodded slowly.  
  
“I’m sorry about what I said about Rhodes,”  
  
“I know,”  
  
“And I’m sorry I was an asshole,”  
  
“I know,”


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Steve have a talk, FRIDAY is protective of her dad, and Harley Keener shows up

“Tony!”  
  
Tony resisted the urge to roll his eyes.  
  
“Can I help you with something Captain? I’m very busy,” Tony said, despite the fact that he was sitting in the kitchen with only a cup of coffee to keep his attention.  
  
Rogers did not look amused.  
  
“We’ve been here for weeks now. Are we ever going to talk?”  
  
Tony glanced up at him.  
  
“Talk? Rogers I didn’t even know that word was in your vocabulary,” Tony snarked.  
  
“Stark,” Rogers sighed.  
  
“I’m being serious here! Because as I recall, I tried to talk to you a few months ago, but _you_ didn’t want to listen,” Tony remarked.  
  
Rogers closed his eyes and let out a heavy breath.  
  
“The Accords were _wrong_ ,”  
  
“Are we still on this? Because, correct me if I’m wrong, but you’ve already signed the Accords. It’s a done deal here Rogers,”  
  
“You left us no choice!”  
  
“Which time? The time when I tried to tell you that I could amend the Accords after they were signed? Or the time I asked you to sign so you wouldn’t be labeled an international criminal?” Tony asked, a sharp smile on his face.  
  
Steve sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Tony resisted the urge to smirk.  
  
“The Accords are a done deal, Rogers. Anything else you want to talk about? Siberia maybe?-”  
  
“Tony-”  
  
“You know what? Let’s talk about Siberia, Rogers. You wanna talk about how you kept me in the dark about Barnes? How you lied to me for two years about my parents? Or how about how you slammed your SHIELD into my chest? Y’know, right where the arc reactor used to be?”  
  
Steve closed his eyes and tried to ignore the hot burst of shame that spread over him.  
  
“You’re not innocent in all this either. You _attacked_ Bucky!”  
  
“I just watched him kill my parents!”  
  
“He was-!”  
  
“I know he was brainwashed! I know it was HYDRA!” Tony shouted.  
  
“The rational part of my brain knows all that. But the emotional part? Having a little bit of a harder time. He was standing two feet away from me while I watched footage of him murder my mother,”  
  
“But you knew. You were one of my best friends. And you betrayed me. Just like so many fucking people have already. Y’know I thought Obie was the worst one, when he ripped the arc reactor from my chest and left me to die, but I was wrong, watching you refuse to listen to me, and realizing that you didn’t care enough about me to tell me that your old bff killed my mom… that… that was the worse,” Tony said.  
  
“And then, to top it off, your bullshit apology letter,”  
  
“‘I’m sorry that you reacted badly to what I did’,”  
  
“That was pretty much the gist of it, right?”  
  
“Tony,” Steve whispered.  
  
Tony drummed his fingers against his coffee mug for a moment.  
  
“Good talk,” he said at last and walked out of the room. Steve just stood there, staring at Tony’s empty chair for nearly an hour.  
  
“Cap?” Sam asked.  
  
Steve snapped his head up to look at his friend.  
  
“I… I’m fine. I just need to… lay down,”  
  
Steve headed for his room and sat down on his bed. He tried of anything other than Tony. How hard Tony tried to get Steve to just _listen_ to him about the Accords. The look in Tony’s eyes after the video. The way Tony’s hands went up to protect his face when Steve slammed his shield down on his chest.  
  
_When Tony was invited in on the Avengers Initiative he read up on Thermonuclear Astrophysics so he could be prepared for whatever was going to be thrown his way, so he could be useful to his new team. When the Accords were introduced, Captain Rogers barely glanced at them before abandoning his team_.  
  
Steve laid back in his bed, arm draped over his eyes.  
  
“Fuck,” he whispered.  
  
  
  
Tony had had a productive few days. He’d upgraded everything he needed to upgrade, he hadn’t had any more encounters with Rogers or Wanda, and Clint was back to his usual birdbrain ways which meant Tony had a new friend to play with.  
  
Strange had updated him on Wanda’s training, he’d had to pull in a few professionals from the X-Men Mutant School to help, but she was shaping up nicely.  
  
“Hey Tones!”  
  
“Yea Platypus?”  
  
“FRIDAY mentioned you and Rogers had a little talk?”  
  
Tony closed his eyes.  
  
“Going to donate you to McDonalds!” he threatened.  
  
“ _Can’t wait, Boss_!” she chirped.  
  
“Tones,”  
  
“It wasn’t really a talk, honey bear, I called him out for all the shit he pulled and I haven’t seen him since- by the way, FRI, where is he?” Tony asked.  
  
“ _Captain Rogers has been particularly interested in your history, Boss_ ,”  
  
“My what now?”  
  
“ _He didn’t explain himself_ ,”  
  
“So you just let him…?”  
  
For a moment FRIDAY was silent.  
  
“ _I wanted him to be ashamed, Boss. I never liked the way he treated you_ ,” she said.  
  
“Oh baby girl,” Tony said fondly.  
  
“That’s completely unnecessary, but I appreciate it,”  
  
“ _You’re welcome_ ,” she said softly.  
  
  
  
Harley Keener stepped out of the car and stared at the Compound for a moment. It was massive. He stooped back down to grab his bag and thanked the driver, Happy Hogan, for driving him.  
  
“Sure thing, kid,”  
  
Harley shut the door and made his way to the Compound.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> enter Harley Keener. alternatively: Harley spends the day with Tony, side eyes Cap, and gossips with Tony and Natasha

Harley was a little disappointed that no one was there to greet him when he walked into the Compound.  
  
“ _You must be Harley Keener,_ ” the voice that spoke was not JARVIS, but an accented female voice.  
  
“Who the fuck?”  
  
“No,” someone said.  
  
“Whom the fuck?” Harley tried as he turned to see Tony walk into the room.  
  
Tony was clearly trying to hold back a grin as he shook his head at Harley.  
  
“That’s FRIDAY,” he said.  
  
“What happened to JARVIS?”  
  
“Long story,” he said.  
  
Harley frowned.  
  
“C’mon kid, I’ll show you to your room,”  
  
Harley followed Tony through the Compound and listened to him talk about how there were two wings of rooms, one of which housed the people Tony genuinely enjoyed being around, the other held the people that he didn’t. Tony’s reasoning was that he didn’t want to sleep near Rogers.  
  
Harley could understand that.  
  
“So you can have the room next to Spiderboy,” Tony said.  
  
“Spiderboy?” Harley asked.  
  
“Did you adopt another kid since I’ve been gone?” Harley asked, feigning shock.  
  
“This is what happens when you don’t call your old man for 4 years,” Tony shot back.  
  
“You _are_ guilt tripping me!”  
  
Tony laughed.  
  
“I have a video conference with King T’challa so I’ll let you get settled in. FRIDAY will call you for dinner,”  
  
“Yea, yea,”  
  
Tony hovered for a moment before he left the room. Harley sat down on the massive bed and sent a text to his mom to let her know he was safe. He pushed himself off his bed and started to unpack his bags.  
  
FRIDAY called him for dinner not long after he finished putting his things away. She directed him to the dining room where he came face to face with every single one of the Avengers (minus War Machine).  
  
“Hey kid, you can sit here,” Tony said when Harley walked into the room. Harley nodded and took the seat on Tony’s right.  
  
“My Rhodey-bear usually sits there but he’s out doing military things,” Tony said, a hint of pride in his voice.  
  
Harley vaguely remembered Tony talking about Rhodey way back when they first met.  
  
“So d’you just adopt every kid you meet?” Barnes asked.  
  
“Yes,” Tony said.  
  
“This is Harley Keener, he saved my ass during the whole Mandarin thing,” Tony said.  
  
“You mean when you gave a villain your home address?” Natasha asked with a small, teasing smile.  
  
“Not my best moment, I admit,”  
  
“He broke into my garage and then broke my sister’s watch,” Harley added.  
  
Tony looked affronted.  
  
“I got her a new one!”  
  
Harley just smiled softly. Dinner was interesting to say the least. Harley kept glancing over at Captain America every once and while. He could never wrap his head around why anyone would hurt Tony like that. Maybe Harley was _a little_ biased but it didn’t make sense to him.  
  
He glanced at the rest of the Avengers, he didn’t really know much about them, he knew of them, of course, but that was about it. The only people he was weary about was Captain Rogers, the woman with the red misty powers, and the weird purple guy who hovered at the back of the room.  
  
“Alright kid, you ready to science?” Tony asked.  
  
“Fuck yea!”  
  
“Language!” multiple people at the table warned.  
  
Harley choked out a laugh and followed Tony down to his lab.

  
  


“ _Ms. Romanoff is requesting entry,_ ” FRIDAY said.  
  
“Let her in,” Tony called.  
  
The door to the lab hissed open and Natasha walked in.  
  
“What’s up Natatat?” Tony asked.  
  
“My nails are chipping,” she informed him.  
  
“We’re sciencing!”  
  
Natasha leveled him with a look.  
  
“Fine! C’mon kid,” Tony said as he waved his hand, the holograms vanished. Harley frowned but followed them from the lab.  
  
“What’s going on?”  
  
“Natasha and I are doing this thing where we’re trying to fix our friendship, usually this means once a week we hang around in her room watching movies, gossiping, and pampering ourselves,” Tony informed him.  
  
“Face masks?” Harley asked.  
  
“Yep,”  
  
“My sister likes to do those. I’ve always wanted to try them,”  
  
Half an hour later found them on Natasha’s bed, Harley had a facemask on, Tony was painting Natasha’s toes, and Natasha was painting Harley’s fingers.  
  
“Who was the woman with the red mist?” Harley asked quietly.  
  
Tony stiffened slightly.  
  
“We don’t like her?”  
  
“Wanda and Tony don’t see eye to eye,” Natasha said.  
  
“And the weird purple dude?”  
  
“Vision. He… he uh… sort of houses JARVIS- not the real JARVIS but… he’s a mix of JARVIS and Ultron,” Tony said quietly.  
  
“Oh,” Harley said softly.  
  
“Can you fix him?”  
  
“Not this time,”  
  
Tony paused his work on Natasha’s toes and fished his phone from his pocket.  
  
“It’s Rhodes, I’ll be right back,” he said as he stood.  
  
“Hey platypus!” then he stepped out of the room and it was just Harley and Natasha.  
  
“Tony said you saved his ass?” she questioned.  
  
“Oh yea!”  
  
Harley launched into the story of what happened after the Extremis Bad Guys broke the water tower and how the boy who bullied Harley had been swept up in it and nearly drowned, Tony had used his arc reactor to save the boys life. Tony had then nearly keeled over before Harley realized what the arc reactor was and that Tony needed it to live.  
  
“Idiot,” Natasha muttered fondly.  
  
“Love you too, honey-bear,” Tony said as he stepped back into the room. He ended the call and sat back on the bed and resumed painting Natasha’s toes.  
  
Harley arched his eyebrow and glanced at Natasha who was pointedly not looking at him, but there was a smile on her face.  
  
“Since when did you two get together?” Harley asked as Natasha painted his nails.  
  
“Since when did I what?”  
  
“You and your friend. Rhodes,”  
  
Natasha looked up at Harley, clearly trying to fight off a smile.  
  
“Rhodey,” Tony stated.  
  
“You think I’m with Rhodes,”  
  
“You act like a couple,”  
  
“That doesn’t mean we’re together!”  
  
“He admits it!”  
  
“What? No! I just- I mean I wouldn’t _mind_ \- no! That’s enough out of you,” Tony said.  
  
Harley smirked.  
  
“This is really throwing me through the loop here, old man. You were gushing about him _four_ years ago and you’re still doing it! And I’m supposed to believe there’s nothing going on?” Harley asked.  
  
Tony opened his mouth to say something and then promptly shut it.  
  
“I don’t have to sit here and take this from a twelve year old,” Tony said. He inspected his nails closely before walking out of the room, flipping both Natasha and Harley off as he went.  
  
“Don’t you dare ruin your nails!” Natasha shouted after him.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> where Harley sasses Tony, a confession happens, and a character makes a comeback

Harley and Tony were sciencing when someone new stepped into the lab.  
  
“Oh Harley this is James Rhodes,” Tony introduced absentmindedly.  
  
Rhodes was an older black man, he seemed a few years older than Tony, and he walked a little stiffly, which in itself was a miracle because Harley had seen War Machine’s fall.  
  
“Oh right! Iron Patriot!” Harley said as he looked from Rhodes to Tony.  
  
“War Machine,” Tony hissed.  
  
Rhodey just snorted and smiled at Harley.  
  
“What are you doing down here?” Tony asked.  
  
“It’s lunch time. Just because you have a new science friend doesn’t mean you can skip out food,” Rhodes said.  
  
“Fine, fine. C’mon kid,”  
  
Harley could defend a full thesis called _Why Tony Stark and James Rhodes are the Biggest Pining Assholes in the Whole World_ and would get a doctorate, of that he was sure. They had disgustingly sweet nicknames for each other, and sent each other longing looks when the other wasn’t looking, and talked about each other constantly.  
  
Harley was going to have to resort to extreme measures to get them to admit their feelings.

  
  


“Hey… Tony?” Steve asked cautiously.  
  
Tony looked up from his breakfast. Rhodes did not look up from his phone, where he was reading the latest news.  
  
“Rogers,”  
  
“Could we talk?”  
  
“You wanna have another talk?” Tony asked, his eyebrows almost disappearing into his hairline.  
  
“Actually… I just wanted to apologize,”  
  
Rhodes glanced up from his phone, seemingly unimpressed.  
  
“Ok,” Tony said.  
  
“I know I’ve done a lot of shit, and I don’t expect you to forgive me-”  
  
“I don’t,” Tony interrupted. Steve winced.  
  
“But I appreciate the apology,” he added.  
  
“Right… yea… I’ll just…” he gave a jerky nod and walked out of the kitchen.  
  
Tony and Rhodes looked at each other for a moment. Rhodes rolled his eyes and went back to his phone, Tony took another bite of his toast.

  
  


“You sound like him,” Harley said.  
  
It was the first time he’d had a face to face conversation with Vision… who was an android… which was fascinating as far as Harley was concerned. Harley was just wary about the whole used to be JARVIS thing.  
  
“Yes,” Vision said quietly.  
  
“Mr. Stark tried to fuse JARVIS’s conscious with that of Ultron, I was the end result,”  
  
It wasn’t that Harley didn’t like FRIDAY, she seemed to be a good AI, but he missed JARVIS. Harley had helped Tony piece the AI back together again after they both crash landed in Tennessee.  
  
Harley looked back up at Vision for a moment.  
  
“You wanna help me with something?”  
  
Vision tilted his head to the side and gave a brief nod.

  
  


When Rhodes was home, he and Tony shared a bed. It’s just what they did.  
  
“C’mon Tones!”  
  
Then Tony was there, at his side, with his hand curled in Rhodey’s well worn shirt. He was babbling quietly about what he had done that day with Harley. He was bothered that the kid was being secretive. Tony smelt like shampoo and grease. He was warm, and soft, and Rhodes really was going to burst.  
  
“You’ve got your thinking face on, honey bear,” Tony said.  
  
“No I don’t,”  
  
“Yes you do. You get a crease right there,” Tony said as he tapped the middle of Rhodey’s forehead. Rhodes was thankful that his cheeks wouldn’t give away the blush.  
  
“That’s my ‘Tony is stressing me out’ crease,” Rhodes muttered.  
  
“I’m more observant than you give me credit for platypus. Your ‘Tony is stressing me out’ and your ‘I’m thinking way too hard and not listening to anything Tony says’ crease are totally different,”  
  
“Sure,”  
  
Tony smiled up at him. Rhodes didn’t want to look in fear that he wouldn’t be able to look away from that smile.  
  
“You know what, honey pot?” Tony asked suddenly.  
  
“What?”  
  
Rhodey loved a sleepy Tony. He was more honest. More open and soft.  
  
“You’re beautiful,”  
  
Rhodes stopped breathing. Next to him, Tony froze and sat up. Rhodes followed suit and for a moment they were both silent.  
  
“I… I didn’t mean…”  
  
“Tones,” Rhodey said quietly. Tony looked at him. There were a myriad of excuses on the tip of his tongue, he opened his mouth to try and explain himself- then Rhodes was kissing him and it was awkward and messy and it was Rhodey, and Rhodey, _and Rhodey_.  
  
They ate breakfast together the following morning- Tony with his two cups of coffee and his two pieces of toast, and Rhodey with his one cup of coffee and his four pieces of toast- next to each other and didn’t bother to hide their kisses and affectionate touches- they were far too old for that.  
  
Harley was ecstatic and incredibly smug about the whole thing.  
  
“I totally called it,” Harley said.  
  
“Yes, yes, I know. Go be smug about it somewhere else,”  
  
“Like father like son,” Rhodey teased.  
  
Tony almost spat his coffee out in surprise.

  
  


Tony heard her heels before he saw her. He easily dodged around Rhodes to hide from Pepper.  
  
“Tones!”  
  
“I haven’t done anything wrong but that’s not going to stop her,” Tony muttered.  
  
“Tony,” Pepper called.  
  
He peeked out from behind Rhodey. Pepper didn’t look mad at him, she actually looked amused.  
  
“Are you here to yell at me?” Tony asked.  
  
“Not today,”  
  
Tony stepped out from behind Pepper and grinned at her.  
  
“I’m here for Natasha,” she said.  
  
Tony raised an eyebrow.  
  
“If you can play nice with your teammates, so can I,” she said.  
  
Natasha walked over to Pepper and the two shot each other the same shy smile. Tony and Rhodes shot each other the same incredulous look. It was only the look on Pepper’s face that kept Tony from making any sort of crack.  
  
“And don’t think for a second that either of you are off the hook for getting together and not telling me,” she warned before she and Natasha swept out of the room.

  
  


Tony noticed that Harley was spending a lot of time with Vision. FRIDAY refused to tell him what they were up to. She was unimpressed by his threats to recode her. Tony couldn’t help but wonder how she had gotten to be so much like her big brother.  
  
Tony didn’t want to press and be an overbearing parent figure who needed to know every detail of their kids lives, so he let Harley do whatever it was that Harley was doing. Besides… he couldn’t get into that much trouble with Vision watching him. Right?

  
  


“Alright! That’s it! I demand to know what you’re hiding from me!”  
  
“You’re being dramatic,” Harley replied.  
  
“I am not! Honestly the nerve of kids these days,”  
  
“FRIDAY! Mark it down that I’ve been offended by my own child,”  
  
“Guilt tripping,” Harley muttered under his breath.  
  
There was no answer from FRIDAY.  
  
“FRI?” Tony asked, pulling his StarkPhone out to see if anything had happened to his baby girl.  
  
“ _Hello, sir_ ,” said JARVIS.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where JARVIS is back, Harley makes a friend, and Tony has a family. Or simply... the end.

Tony stood there, staring up at JARVIS’s nearest speaker with tears in his eyes. His fist was clenched and he kept opening his mouth to say something, but nothing would come out.  
  
“J?” he finally asked with a weak voice.  
  
“ _I missed you as well, sir,_ ” JARVIS replied, somehow managing to sound just as emotional as Tony did.  
  
“H- how?” Tony asked as he turned to face Harley.  
  
“You remember when you crash landed in Tennessee and broke into my shed?”  
  
“Vaguely,”  
  
“You hooked the suit up to my computer to work on the code and forgot to take it off when you left. Vision said you had old copies on your computers so I figured between the two of us we could patch the code together enough to get him back to a place where he could fix his own code,” Harley said. He was wringing his fingers together, still unsure if he had overstepped a boundary.  
  
Before Harley could try to explain himself, Tony placed his hand on the kids shoulder and squeezed tightly. There were still tears in his eyes.  
  
“I know,” Harley said quietly, understanding what Tony was trying to tell him.  
  
“We’re connected, remember old man?” he teased.  
  
The jest finally got Tony to crack a smile.  
  
“Teenagers these days. You hearing this J?” Tony asked.  
  
“ _Unbelievable, sir,_ ” JARVIS said dryly.  
  
Tony scrubbed furiously at his face as tears slipped down his cheeks. JARVIS was back. JARVIS was snarking at him. JARVIS was back.

  
  


Later that night, Tony was lying in his bed, still having a hard time believe that his JARVIS was back.  
  
“Just… talk to me J,”  
  
JARVIS did as asked. Tony closed his eyes and let the AI’s voice wash over him. He felt tears prick behind his eyes.  
  
“Tones?” Rhodey asked quietly.  
  
“He’s back,” Tony whispered.  
  
“I know,”  
  
“Harley brought him back,”  
  
“You’ve got a good kid there, Tones,” Rhodey said in a teasing voice. Tony didn’t bother protesting it. Harley was his kid. So was Peter, and Dum-E, and U, and Butterfingers, and JARVIS, and FRIDAY, and all the little cleaner bots.  
  
Tony felt the bed dip as Rhodey settled in next to him. Tony curled into his boyfriend and buried into him and tried not to cry, and if he left a damp spot on Rhodes’ shirt then that was just between the two of them.  
  
Tony woke at four in the morning with an idea. He jolted out of bed, kissed Rhodes on his forehead, and ran down to the lab, telling JARVIS to wake the kids.

  
  


“Hey what’s Tony been doing?” Harley asked when Rhodes stepped into the kitchen. He had been dealing with whiny UN members all day with Carol Danvers.  
  
“He got out of bed at four in the morning and I haven’t seen him since,” Rhodes responded.  
  
“What have you been up to if you haven’t been with Tony?” Rhodes asked.  
  
“Barnes and Romanoff sparred in the gym earlier which was fucking insane-”  
  
“Language,” Rhode drawled.  
  
“I thought for sure they were both going to die,” Harley continued as if Rhodes hadn’t said a thing.  
  
“Then Miss Potts stopped by and she and Romanoff went to lunch,”  
  
“Then Clint gave me archery lessons,” he finished.  
  
Rhodes made a mental note to ask Pepper about what was going on between her and Natasha, and to make sure Clint wasn’t teaching Harley anything too dangerous.  
  
“I’m gonna check on Tony, make sure he hasn’t done anything stupid. Wanna come?”  
  
“Yea,”  
  
Harley followed Rhodes down to the lab. Rhodes punched in his code and the door hissed open. Tony was sitting at his workbench, a few holographic images floating around him. Rhodes stopped dead as he recognized the schematics. The War Machine armor.  
  
Harley drifted to the workbench and saw a little disk with FRIDAY’s name on it.  
  
“What are you going to do with FRIDAY?” Harley asked curiously. He felt a little bad about reinstalling JARVIS and leaving her with nothing.  
  
“I was thinking about putting her in the War Machine suit,” Tony said slowly, his gaze flickering to Rhodes, gauging his reaction.  
  
“Yes the Iron Patriot suit,” Harley agreed.  
  
Tony pointedly ignored the kid.  
  
“If you want to honey bear,” Tony said in a rush.  
  
“Why give her to me?”  
  
“If anything happens to JARVIS while you’re piloting… FRIDAY will be independent from that. It’s like KAREN from Peter’s suit,”  
  
Rhodey stared at the holographic image of the War Machine armor for what felt like years. He was still afraid to go back in. But he trusted Tony. He knew that Tony would overcompensate for his past mistakes and make sure that Rhodey wouldn’t fall again. If anything did by chance, happen to him, Tony would somehow make it alright again.  
  
“Platypus?” Tony asked.  
  
“It’s gonna take some time, Tones, but if you’re going back out there then I’m going with you,” he said.  
  
Tony grinned and leaned forward to kiss Rhodes quickly.  
  
“Ugh,”  
  
Tony just flipped the kid off. He stepped back from Rhodes and turned to the holographic images of the War Machine armor. He wasn’t going to fuck up this time around.  
  
“So is Peter the other stray you adopted?” Harley asked, completely derailing Tony’s train of thought.  
  
“Yes,” Rhodes replied.  
  
Harley didn’t reply to that.  
  
“Well, I’ll let you two be gross then,” he said before he walked out of the lab.

  
  


Tony should _not_ have been surprised when Peter Parker showed up at the Compound. But he was. He also should _not_ have been surprised that Harley and Peter got along like a house on fire. But he was. They wrecked merry hell on Tony’s nerves between the science explosions and the sassing Captain Rogers and _picking fights with Barnes_ and acting like fucking angels whenever Pepper was around which made Tony seriously consider getting her to stick around for longer periods of time.  
  
(Tony ended up _not_ doing that because that meant she could more easily hound him about not doing any paperwork).

Tony looked around the room with a small smile on his face. Pepper and Natasha were curled up on the loveseat with glasses of wine where they were gossiping quietly. Peter and Harley were jokingly- or seriously- arguing about which one of them was the favorite child. Rhodes was sitting next to Tony, tablet in one hand and the other locked together with Tony’s. Someone (read: Clint) had taught Vision how to make a blanket fort, and now the Android was seating in one watching Hoarders. And JARVIS was looking out for them.  
  
The rest of the Avengers were somewhere in the Compound doing whatever it was that they did. Tony didn’t care. He had his family with him, and that was all that mattered.  
  
Things were still far from perfect- Tony still couldn’t handle being in the same room as Wanda, he had no interest in fixing his relationship with Rogers, and his hands still shook when people yelled too loud or got too close to him too fast (but he always had Rhodes to hold hands with to stop the shaking)- but things were ok, and that was more than Tony could ever hope for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lakjdfoiawesjfeas oiawefjwaoeisf oh my god I can't believe it's done I'm so fucking shook. Thank u all so much for all ur kind words I love u all so much.


	16. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone deserves a happy ending, even Tony Stark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place about six months after the final chapter of Sound of Madness :)

Tony walked into the living room wearing a truly heinous War Machine Christmas sweater. Rhodes would have made fun of it if he hadn’t been wearing an equally heinous Iron Man one.  
  
“You look good in blue, Tones,” Rhodey said.  
  
Tony beamed at him.  
  
“How are you guys still this gross?” Harley whined.  
  
“I love my boyfriend,” Tony replied.  
  
Rhodes looked down in an attempt to hide the flush on his cheeks. Tony beamed again.  
  
“When does Peter get here? I need a break,”  
  
“A break from what?”  
  
“You two,”  
  
Tony rolled his eyes.  
  
“Then go hang out with someone else. Compound has lots of people,”  
  
Harley pushed himself up to look at Tony.  
  
“I would physically rather die than hang out with the Rogues,”  
  
Tony pinched his nose.  
  
“It’s been like half a year,” Tony said.  
  
“So?”  
  
“Your kid,” Rhodes muttered.  
  
“J, can you believe this?” Tony demanded.  
  
“ _Unbelievable, Sir,_ ”  
  
Tony waved off his sassy AI.  
  
“And for your information, Peter won’t be here till tomorrow. He’s spending Christmas Eve with his Aunt,” Tony said to Harley.  
  
Harley groaned.  
  
“Well can we open presents at least?”  
  
“It’s Christmas eve,” Tony said.  
  
“So?”  
  
“Fine. One present,”  
  
“Five,” Harley countered.  
  
Tony and Rhodes shot each other a remarkably similar look. Harley just grinned.  
  
“Two,”  
  
“Four,”  
  
“A compromise, three,” Tony said.  
  
Harley nodded slowly.  
  
“Five,” he said again.  
  
“Jesus,”  
  
Tony pinched the bridge of his nose.  
  
“Alright three, don’t lose your shit, old man,” Harley said.  
  
Tony looked at Rhodes again, Rhodes just shrugged.  
  
“Your kid,”  
  
“Three presents,”  
  
Instead of rushing to the tree, Harley kept his place on the couch, and watched Tony. Tony pulled two presents from the pile, and then one from the pocket of his pants and presented them to Rhodes.  
  
Rhodes grabbed the small box Tony had pulled from his pocket. Harley pulled out his phone, already knowing what Tony was planning. Rhodes delicately unwrapped the red wrapping paper to reveal what was clearly a ring box. The internet was about to blow the fuck up.  
  
“Tones…?” Rhodey asked quietly as he opened the small ring box.  
  
“Will you?” Tony asked quietly as he sank down on one knee.  
  
“This… Tones I don’t fucking believe this,”  
  
Rhodey scrambled for Tony’s stocking and dumped the contents out of the couch, shifting through them till he found a small present. He tore off the red and gold wrapping and held out the small black box.  
  
Tony let out a stunned laugh. Rhodes got down on one knee in front of Tony.  
  
“I will if you will,”  
  
A smile broke over Tony’s face as he nodded, the word _yes_ silently falling from his lips a million times over. Rhodes couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he slid the band onto Tony’s ring finger. Tony swiped at the tears on his cheeks before he slid his ring onto Rhodey’s finger. For just a few seconds the two stared at each other before Tony grabbed Rhodey’s sweater and pulled him in for a kiss.  
  
“This is so going to break the internet,” Harley muttered.  
  
Within five minutes #Ironhusbands was trending all over the internet.

  
  


“Your kid,” Rhodey mumbled the second they found out.  
  
Tony didn’t even move.  
  
“Now we don’t gotta make an announcement,”  
  
“He put it on the pubic snapchat,”  
  
“Saved us so much trouble,” Tony replied.  
  
“Tony if my mom finds out-”  
  
Tony jolted up in bed, sheets pooling around his lap.  
  
“Oh my god she’ll kill us,”  
  
“Mhm,”  
  
“God damn it Harley,”  
  
“ _I feel the need to inform you that Mrs. Rhodes has already called and will be here in approximately 9 hours,_ ” JARVIS said.  
  
Tony flopped back down.

  
  


“Hey, Tony,” Steve said quietly.  
  
“Morning, Cap,” Tony said, fingers drumming atop the counter.  
  
“I heard about you and Rhodes, I just wanted to pass on my congratulations,” he said.  
  
Tony smiled softly, glancing at the silver band on his ring finger. He was so damn lucky.  
  
“Thank you,” he said at last.  
  
“Merry Christmas,” Steve said.  
  
“Merry Christmas,”  
  
Steve managed an awkward smile and walked out of the kitchen. Tony watched him go for a moment before the coffee maker dinged to let him know it was done.  
  
He heard chatter in the hallway and in walked Sam Wilson, Bucky Barnes, and Clint Barton.  
  
“Hey! There’s the man of the hour!” Clint said excitedly.  
  
“Isn’ that wha’ people say to give toasts?” Bucky asked.  
  
“Shut it, Clucky,” Clint replied as he hugged Tony.  
  
Tony grinned softly and hugged his friend back.  
  
“Congratulations man, when’s the wedding?” Clint asked as they parted.  
  
“In two weeks,” Tony replied confidently.  
  
“What? Really?”  
  
Tony shot them all a look.  
  
“We just got engaged, I’m more concerned with what Mama Rhodes is going to say when she gets here,” Tony said.  
  
He took a sip of his coffee and didn’t even wince at it burned his tongue and throat. Harley walked into the room and flashed them all a smirk and a peace sign.  
  
“I think that’s copyright infringement,” Tony said.  
  
Harley rolled his eyes.  
  
“By the way, you posting that on the interweb? So not cool. You could have _at least_ waited till Rhodey and I could call up Mama Rhodes,” Tony said to the teen.  
  
“Where’s the fun in that?”  
  
From his place at the other side of the kitchen, Bucky snorted. Tony pouted and took a sip of his coffee.  
  
“I can’t believe your sassing me on Christmas,” Tony muttered.  
  
“Speaking of, I thought you were with Laura and the kids,” Tony said to Clint.  
  
“We flew in late last night, I think they’re still sleeping,”  
  
“Tell them I said Merry Christmas,”  
  
“Sure will, and congrats again, Tony,” Clint said as he walked out of the room, followed by Sam and Bucky as they too bid Tony a Merry Christmas.  
  
“I guess they’re ok,” Harley said.  
  
Rhodes stepped into the kitchen, Tony instantly set into motion to make him some coffee. Rhodes put a few pieces of bread into the toaster.  
  
Harley finished off the last of his coffee and set his mug in the sink.  
  
“Oh and before I go…” Harley glanced at Tony, a shy expression on his face.  
  
“Merry Christmas dad,”  
  
Then he bolted, leaving Tony to stare at the space he had been. After a while Tony wiped his eyes.  
  
“Wow… dusty in here or something,”  
  
Rhodes just smiled and kissed the side of his fiance’s head.

  
  


Roberta Rhodes pulled up to the Compound at nearly the exact time JARVIS told Tony and Rhodey she would, just in time for Christmas dinner.  
  
“Hi Mama,” Rhodey said quietly as he hugged her.  
  
“Good to see you Mama Rhodes,” Tony said as he too hugged her.  
  
Roberta beamed at them for a second before she smacked them bock upside the head.  
  
“What were you thinkin’? Not tellin’ me you were gettin’ engaged? I don’t think I raised you like that Jim!” she scolded.  
  
Tony struggled against a smile at the use of Jim.  
  
“You’re right Mama, but we didn’t know the kid was going to put it on the internet,”  
  
Mama Rhodes didn’t look impressed.  
  
“If you two even _think_ of eloping I’ll whoop you so hard you’ll miss your own weddin’,” she warned.  
  
“Yes, ma’am,” they said together.  
  
“Now, you boys going to show me around?” she asked.  
  
“I got you Mama,” Rhodes said as he offered his arm out to her.

  
  


Peter Parker, Clint, his kids and ex-wife, Vision, Natasha, and Pepper joined them for Christmas dinner. Roberta completely doted on Harley and Peter and Clint’s kids. Tony couldn’t keep the smile off his face.

  
  


“You ever think about kids?” Tony asked.  
  
“You already have two pain-in-the-ass science boys,” Rhodes responded.  
  
When Tony didn’t respond to that, Rhodes looked up.  
  
“What’s up Tones,”  
  
“I had a dream last night, that we had a kid, and it felt so real,” Tony told him.  
  
Rhodes nodded slowly and scrubbed his hand down his face.  
  
“Kids,” he said.  
  
Tony nodded.  
  
“You think we’re ready for kids?” Rhodes asked.  
  
“I think we’re a couple of middle-aged superheroes who are ready for just about anything,” Tony said.  
  
Rhodes sat back in his chair. He had always loved the way Tony lit up around kids, always going to extra mile around them to see them laugh or smile. Rhodes always knew that Tony would be a great father, far better than Howard.  
  
“What are our options?”  
  
A smile split Tony’s face.

  
  


“Pep, there’s something I have to ask you,” Rhodes said as he walked into her office.  
  
She just looked up at him, a small smile on her face.  
  
“How can I help you, Rhodes?” she asked when he didn’t immediately respond.  
  
“Tony and I have been talking a lot recently, about kids, and there’s something I wanna ask you,” he said.

  
  


“Rhodes asked me to be their surrogate,” Pepper started casually, as if it was a perfectly normal way to start a conversation.  
  
“What?” Natasha asked, surprise coloring her voice.  
  
“He and Tony have been talking about kids. Mostly about a surrogate,” Pepper said.  
  
Natasha nodded slowly, chewing gently on her lip as she processed everything her girlfriend had just told her.  
  
“How do you feel about it?” Natasha asked.  
  
Pepper sighed and ran her fingers through Natasha’s hair.  
  
“It’s… a lot,” Pepper said.  
  
“But,” she said softly.  
  
“It’s Rhodes and Tony,”  
  
“So you’re going to do it?”  
  
Pepper shrugged delicately.  
  
“It’s for less than a year, besides, it’s going to make them so happy,”  
  
Natasha beamed at her.

  
  


Tears sprang to Rhodey’s eyes when he read the text he’d gotten from Pepper. She would do it. She would be their surrogate.  
  
“Hey Tones, honey?” Rhodes called, his voice weak.  
  
“Yea sugar plum?”  
  
“I kinda need to talk to you about something,”  
  
Tony turned to him, eyes instantly on Rhodey’s leg braces.  
  
“Braces are fine,”  
  
Tony seemed to relax a little bit at that.  
  
“Then what’s up buttercup?” he asked.  
  
Instead of answering, Rhodes walked toward him and sat in front of his fiance on their bed.  
  
“I know for a while we were talking about surrogates,” Rhodes said quietly, his thumb brushing over Tony’s hand.  
  
“Are you thinking it’s a bad idea? Because there are other options-”  
  
“Tones,” Rhodey said quietly.  
  
“There’s adoption- I mean I know I’ve already pretty much adopted Harley and Peter but-”  
  
Rhodes gently covered Tony’s mouth with his hand and waited for Tony to stop mumbling.  
  
“You done?”  
  
Tony just stared at him.  
  
“I mentioned surrogates, because I found one,” Rhodes said as he removed his hand from Tony’s mouth.  
  
“You… you what?”  
  
“I found us a surrogate, if that’s something you still want,”  
  
“You did?” Tony asked.  
  
Rhodes nodded, watching an odd expression twist at Tony’s face. It really wasn’t the reaction he was hoping for.  
  
“What’s with the face?” Rhodes asked.  
  
“I’m not making a face,” Tony said.  
  
“Yes you are,”  
  
“Yes I am,” Tony admitted.  
  
“I just thought… that was something we were supposed to do together, y’know?” Tony said quietly, not quite meeting Rhodey’s gaze.  
  
“But it’s fine! I know I’ve been busy, and-”  
  
“It’s Pepper,” Rhodes said before Tony could start on his unrelenting habit of using his words to derail a conversation.  
  
“What?”  
  
“I asked Pepper,”  
  
“You asked Pepper,” Tony repeated, dumbfounded.  
  
Rhodes nodded.  
  
“Pepper- you asked Pepper to be our surrogate, and she said yes. Pepper said yes,”  
  
“Yes,”  
  
“Pepper Potts,”  
  
“Tony how many times do I have to confirm this for you?” Rhodey asked.  
  
“At least a dozen more,”  
  
Rhodes smiled and grabbed his fiance’s face.  
  
“Pepper Potts is going to be our surrogate,”  
  
Tony stared at him for a few minutes before bursting into tears.

  
  


Even though it was completely unnecessary, Tony paid for whatever expenses Pepper had for the fertility testing, and the testing she had to go through to become a proper surrogate. She handled all her appointments on her own and took Natasha to every one of them.  
  
Tony and Rhodey tried to be as patient as they could, but they were eager for the results. They knew there was a possibility that it would only work for one of them, and that was fine for them. So long as it worked.  
  
To keep themselves busy while waiting on the whole surrogate situation, Tony and Rhodey started to plan for their wedding. It was small, elaborate, and would be held inside a church because it was the one thing Mama Rhodes asked for.  
  
Carol Danvers would officiate them. Neither of them had groomsmen. The guest list included the New Avengers, Mama Rhodes, Bucky Barnes, Clint Barton, and Sam Wilson.  
  
“You sure about Barnes?” Rhodey asked.  
  
Tony nodded.  
  
“And Rogers?”  
  
“I know we’re civil, but this is our day,”  
  
“Ok,”  
“I mean, I agree. I don’t want him there,” Rhodes muttered.  
  
Tony smiled at him.

  
  


Pepper stepped out of the bathroom, her expression calm and composed. There was a small white stick in her hand.  
  
“I’m pregnant,” she said.  
  
Everyone lost their shit.

  
  


Tony was a mess in the days leading up to Pepper’s first doctor appointment. Rhodes did his best to keep his fiance calm, but he too was anxious for the appointment. It would tell them if the pregnancy was ok, if the baby was ok, it would tell them everything.  
  
“Am I doing the right thing?” Tony asked out loud.  
  
“You talking to yourself or me?” Harley responded.  
  
“You,”  
  
“About what?”  
  
“Kids,”  
  
Harley pushed himself up from the couch, a frown on his face.  
  
“I mean, I want kids. But I don’t want to be Howard. God I’m going to be Howard aren’t I?”  
  
“No,” Harley said simply.  
  
“My old man left me when I was a kid, and in the span of what?- three days you were a better father figure to me than he ever was,” Harley said matter of factly.  
  
Tony scrubbed at his face.  
  
“I think you’re too afraid of becoming Howard to ever be anything like him,” Harley added.  
  
“When’d you get so smart?” Tony asked.  
  
“After you broke into my garage and called me a pussy,”  
  
That startled a laugh out of Tony.  
  
“You’re going to be a great dad- I mean you already are,”  
  
“God you’re gonna make your old man cry,”  
  
Harley grinned and leaned over the couch.  
  
“Go bother someone else, will you?”  
  
“Fine. Clint promised to help me with archery anyway,” Harley said.  
  
Tony watched him walk out of the lab and rubbed his eyes. Damn kid making him teary eyed.  
  
“Can you believe him J?” Tony asked.  
  
There was a few seconds where JARVIS didn’t respond. Tony glanced up the the ceiling.  
  
“ _Actually, sir,_ ” JARVIS started hesitantly.  
  
“What’s up J?”  
  
“ _If I may, you have already proven yourself to be a wonderful father to myself, and Dum-E, U, and Butterfingers,_ ” JARVIS said.  
  
A watery smile hit Tony’s face.  
  
“Thanks, J,” he said quietly.  
  
“ _Of course, Sir,_ ” 

  
  


Tony drummed his fingers against the counter and looked at the clock again. Only a minute had passed. Time was moving too slow.  
  
“A watched clock-”  
  
“Doesn’t boil, I know,” Tony muttered.  
  
“That doesn’t even make sense, Tones,” Rhodey said with a grin.  
  
“We should be early, shouldn’t we?” Tony asked.  
  
“Sure, just not three hours early,”  
  
“What if there’s traffic?”  
  
Rhodes shook his head.  
  
“It’s going to be ok, Tones,” he promised.  
  
Wanda stepped into the kitchen. Tony instantly felt his spine tingle. He still wasn’t comfortable around her, and she knew it.  
  
“Stark,” her voice clipped.  
  
Tony just nodded. Bucky, no doubt summoned by JARVIS, slunk into the kitchen and shot right for the coffee maker. Wanda kept her distance.  
  
“Today’s the day, righ’?” Barnes asked.  
  
“Yea,” Tony said quietly.  
  
“‘S gonna be alrigh’,”  
  
“That’s what I keep trying to tell him,”  
  
Bucky gestured to himself and Rhodey.  
  
“We know what we’re talkin’ about,”

  
  


The drive to the doctor seemed to take an eternity, in reality it took half an hour at most. Pepper and Natasha were the epitome of calm, cool, and collected. Tony was on the verge of losing his shit.  
  
Pepper and Natasha were the first to get called in, and hardly ten minutes later, Rhodey and Tony were called in. Pepper was lying down, her shirt pulled up and clear goop on her stomach.  
  
Tony’s eyes were drawn to the tv monitor as a thrumming filled the room. It took him longer than he cared to admit to realize the sound was a heartbeat.  
  
“Both heartbeats sound strong,” the doctor said.  
  
The entire room seemed to freeze. The entire room, except for Tony, who nodded as if he completely understood what the doctor had said.  
  
“Both?” Pepper asked.  
  
“Yours and the baby’s- right?” Tony asked, looking back at the doctor.  
  
“Both babies,”  
  
“Both,”  
  
Tony held up two fingers and the doctor nodded.  
  
“Oh my god,” Natasha whispered.  
  
Tony slowly pointed to himself and then to Rhodey, and then held up two fingers again. Rhodey could physically see Tony working it all out in his head.  
  
“Honey bear, that means-!”  
  
Rhodes grabbed him and hauled him in for a tight hug.

  
  


For a second the church hung suspended in silence. Rhodes was dressed in his military blues, Tony stood across from him, dressed in his best suit. Carol Danvers stood between them with tears in her eyes.  
  
“You may now kiss the groom,” Carol said, her voice choked with emotion.  
  
Tony grabbed Rhodey and kissed him. The church erupted into applause. Tony let his fianc- husband go.  
  
“I love you,” Rhodes whispered.  
  
“I love you too,”

  
  


Pepper went into labor three days before her due date. She delivered two healthy babies, first a boy with dark tufts of hair, and then a little girl who looked just like Rhodes.  
  
“What are you going to name them?” Natasha asked, she was standing at Tony’s side, peering down at the baby boy in his arms.  
  
“He’s tiny,” she said.  
  
“I know,” Tony said.  
  
“Maria,” Rhodes said in a steady voice.  
  
Tony looked at his husband, he was cradling a tiny pink bundle.  
  
“Honey pot,” Tony whispered.  
  
Rhodes just smiled at their daughter, tears in his eyes.  
  
“Maria,” he said again.  
  
Tony looked down at his son- Jesus his son.  
  
“Morgan,” Tony said suddenly.  
  
From her place on the hospital bed, Pepper’s head shot up.  
  
“Morgan?”  
  
“After your eccentric uncle,”  
  
“Tony, you don’t-”  
  
“What else could I name him, Pep? _Howard? Obadiah?_ Honey pot doesn’t want to saddle him with Terrance… so, Morgan,”  
  
“I love you Tony,” she said quietly.  
  
He smiled at her, brown eyes wide and teary.  
  
“Love you too Pep,”  
  
Tony looked down at his son for a moment, so tiny and so vulnerable. Then he looked at his husband who was cradling their daughter. Then to Pepper who was crying- something Tony totally wasn’t going to comment about because even though she had just given birth to two babies she could still kick his ass. So could her girlfriend.  
  
Again his eyes were drawn to his son. He was going to be a better father than Howard ever was, and a better husband. His life was better with his husband and kids in it, that much he knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND THUS CONCLUDES SOUND OF MADNESS  
> hope you enjoyed the ride <3

**Author's Note:**

> come yell @ me  
> [here](http://www.anthonystarhk.tumblr.com/)


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